Heart Talk—poem duet by Grace Madison & Ernest Dempsey

“Deep listening from the heart is one half of true communication.
Speaking from the heart is the other half.”
—Sara Paddison, author Hidden Power of the Heart

When I sent this quotation to my friend Grace Madison (she is the mother of Curt Madison, one of my high school chums who know bases in Alaska), she wrote back that it brought to mind “a poem I wrote in 1960 as a memento for members of a conversational English class that I taught for awhile in Dacca, East Pakistan (now Bangledesh)”.

ON LANGUAGES
by Grace Madison

The world has many languages
And to learn them is worthwhile,
But there’s never a language barrier
In the friendship of a smile.

English, Urdu, Bengali
Conversation is an art.
But the universal language
Is the language of the heart.

Then, because she’d mentioned teaching in Pakistan, I sent Grace’s poem on to my poet-pal Ernest Dempsey (aka Karim Khan, my man in Pakistan). He wrote: “That’s really beautiful! Yes indeed, the true language is the language of the heart. Let me donate my own short stanza to this thread.”

ON LANGUAGE, (continued)
by Ernest Dempsey

While language spoken to others may convey
Some meaning or impression not intended
The language of the heart does not betray
Whatever truth is meant for one’s own sake