From: Arlene 
Subject: [illusions] A farewell or a hoax ...
Date: 10 Jan 2001 12:40:51 -0500
To: illusions@beyond-the-illusion.com

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The following 'Farewell' is rumoured to have been written by Gabriel
Garcia Marquez but may well have been a hoax, the true authour being a
'ventriloquist' by the name of Johnny Welch.

Regardless, it is beautiful ... 


"If for an instant God were to forget that I am a rag doll, and gifted
me with a piece of life, possibly I wouldn't say all that I think, but
rather I would think of all that I say. I would value things, not for 
their worth but for what they mean. I would sleep little, dream 
more, understanding that for each minute we close our eyes we lose 
sixty seconds of light. 

I would walk when others hold back, I would wake when others sleep. I
would listen when others talk, and how I would enjoy a good chocolate 
ice cream! If God were to give me a piece of life, I would dress simply, 
throw myself face first into the sun, baring not only my body but also 
my soul. My God, if I had a heart, I would write my hate on ice, and 
wait for the sun to show. Over the stars I would paint with a Van Gogh 
dream a Benedetti poem, and a Serrat song would be the serenade 
I'd offer to the moon. 

With my tears I would water roses, to feel the pain of their thorns, and
the red kiss of their petals... 

My God, if I had a piece of life... I wouldn't let a single day pass
without telling the people I love that I love them. I would convince 
each woman and each man that they are my favorites, and I would 
live in love with love. I would show men how very wrong they are to 
think that they cease to be in love when they grow old, not knowing 
that they grow old when they cease to be in love! To a child I shall 
give wings, but I shall let him learn to fly on his own. 

I would teach the old that death does not come with old age, but with 
forgetting. So much have I learned from you, oh men... 

I have learned that everyone wants to live on the peak of the mountain, 
without knowing that real happiness is in how it is scaled. I have
learned that when a newborn child squeezes for the first time with his 
tiny fist his father's finger, he has him trapped forever. 

I have learned that a man has the right to look down on another only
when he has to help the other get to his feet. From you I have 
learned so many things, but in truth they won't be of much use, for 
when I keep them within this suitcase, unhappily shall I be dying."

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