In 1867 Edward Lear wrote a poem titled “The Owl and the Pussycat” which has inspired my mixed media paintings. Lear’s time period had economic problems as well as gender-based controversy somewhat like our current time. During his lifetime Lear never specified the genders of the Owl or Pussycat. I value nonsense literature because it playfully reminds us that we make meaning together using words and symbols. We can mutually seek the safety of gentle humor, the place beyond cruelty, where the Bong-tree of the heart grows.