My left arm

“A yes to life.” This is how Viviane Mosé, poet, philosopher and psychoanalyst, presents her book Meu braço esquerda as the epitome of her thought.

This is a poetic narrative woven in prose that experiments with language—sometimes in verse, sometimes in sentences—and reveals uncertainties and hopes so common to us all. Who are we? Why do we feel? And what transforms us into ourselves? These are some of the questions we carry in our souls since birth—a inaugural event in our existence that tears, illuminates, and also disheartens.

Viviane Mosé, about to turn sixty, seeks to see herself in the mirror. And, through the amalgamation of her philosophy and poetry, she was able to look life in the face and affirm it in all its dimensions. Sorrows and suffering are understood as part of a whole, and with this, a new form of love for oneself and others overflows. This left arm of mine is, therefore, a gift to everyone; it is a toast to the good life. It is a yes to life.

“I don't open the classifieds anymore. I got rid of the endless ads. The bedrooms. The living rooms. I made a home in many of them. I put in furniture. Rugs. Flowers. In an attempt to find a place that would fit me.

Until the house fell down completely. There was too much roof and not enough foundation. Furniture and dishes without a floor. I walked the streets without ads in my hands. There was no longer any house. Just this absence.

*

Love has no place

Love spills over the sides

The closest I could get to the sacred

Love makes the body light up. Illuminated

Loving is much more than being loved