Love Life

Love is that sobering and paradoxical state of being in which one’s own happiness depends upon the welfare of another. Mario’s third volume of poetry examines love in its many guises: familial, romantic, and Platonic. This is probably the most personal of all his books. He writes of his eternal and sustaining love for Kim. He has a poem about the fierce and caring love of his mother for him. He writes of the occasional failures of love: the time his father came looking for him, for a connection, and he did not know how to respond. We are born craving love, but we have to learn to give love, and sometimes the lessons are difficult to assimilate. The book is presented in three section: “Preliminary Observations,” “Field Work,” and “Practical Application.” These are the three stages of learning to love. As young people we see others and how they love, but do not understand. As we grow older, we begin to see how love is a force of nature. Finally, if we have been paying attention, we are ready to love others truly and well. Available in these formats: print • kindle • nook • smashwords