The Laughing Heart

"I Don’t Want To Change You"
By Errol Strider

I don’t want to change you
or make you into something else
my image of what you should be…
only images for myself.
I just want to be willing

to be with you
as you are in the now.
You can probably do without my sense
of what you should be.
For in the perfect way you now exist
I’ll just love you as you are.

I cannot live out of love
for only in love do I know myself.
When I join with another, my soul drives forward

like the hard earnest thrust of love’s embrace.
When I enter love, I come to know myself…
for in the eyes of my beloved,
whether man, woman, child or God,
I see my soul enhanced.
And as my soul beams back to me, it brings with it another,

and my self is that much bigger
for allowing two inside it.

by Errol Strider

I speak fear so you’ll know I need assurance.
I speak fondness so you’ll know you can come near.
I speak anger so you’ll know my frustration.
I speak delight so you’ll know I am here.

I speak grief so you’ll know how deep is my loss.
I speak gratitude so you’ll know I’m fulfilled.

I speak hatred so you’ll know I’m distraught.
I speak exuberance so you’ll know I am thrilled.

I speak despair so you’ll know I’ve lost hope.
I speak tenderness so you’ll know I really care.
I speak frenzy so you’ll know I’m confused.
I speak firmness so you’ll know I’ll be fair.

I speak sadness so you’ll know I am hurt.
I speak gladness so you’ll know I’ve been touched.
I speak bitterness so you’ll know how I’ve suffered.
I speak joy so you’ll know I love you so much.

"I Don’t Want To Change You"
"Love"
"Feelings…The Language of Relationship"

with a selection of colored mattes.