Jerusalem:

I lived in Jerusalem for a while. The white moon lit rooftops to be specific were where i felt most at home in that layered city. One night as I was sneaking back to the school i was studying in, some soldiers stopped me and asked me what i was doing. I remember telling them that I was seriously recovering from moonlight on the rooftops of Jerusalem. I handed them some marbles which i used to hand out along with sketches or napkin art. I told them that I give away marbles, so I don’t lose my marbles. They laughed. There Uzzi machines guns softly released onto their hips. They said, oh, an artist, please pass, and get some sleep for the good of all of us.
Jerusalem is still my favorite city, not just for religious reasons, but because the way those soldiers treated a young poet who was drunk on moonlight.
I gave those marbles to lots of people in Jerusalem. But I’m willing to bet, those soldiers still carry them, wherever they are today. So, I never lost my marbles.

Julio and I:
In college I lived with a polish argentinian Rabbi artist. He had a huge tree growing through the middle of his house. We met in a dance improv class, and started to run mask workshops together at his home. We were both being transformed when we met, and our meeting was part of that mutual spiritual growth. Those are the ones which last.
There was a messianic Jewish community across the street but for the most part they didn’t bother him or me, outside of an occasional passover or so. He liked me, because I was very Christian, but not religious. “You have Christ, without christianity.” Julio would say.
He used to read Torah and the Tao of Ching. “There are places of cross-over”, he would say. “..where religions meet spirituality, or just human love.”
He knew I was a Jesus man myself, and that never mattered to him. We got along, and asked each other questions with no answers. We grew together under the Father’s roof for years.
When he died, I returned and helped with the funeral. We did dance improv and art responses to his life. He gave me his mantel in a dream the night before. We still hang out together, somewhere.