Nonsense and Hopeful Songs

Charles Lenny Lunn, nonspeaking autistic poet and painter, came into the world on June 2, 1990, in London, England. Not using speech like other children, he spent years hiding in his imaginary universe and thinking about a truly just space in stark contrast to the ones that exist in the boarding schools and autism specialty centers in the real world. Learning to communicate on letter boards opened new tasks of high artistry for Charles.

Now Charles uses everyday things to inspire his reality-driven poems and art. From noisy mouth-talkers in line at Target to snippets of conversations with joyful minds to shadows on the drive home, Charles believes there is beauty in most places, if one has the eye constantly trained - looking, looking, looking.

Rich in bold, gestural strokes, layered planes and hidden depths, his impassioned art distills the underlying rhythms and little absurdities of everyday events to the tune of his body moving freely through space as he applies paint to paper and creates luminous images through spelling. This book, written by Charles on his letterboard one letter at a time, is for all the quiet folks who don't have songs of hope in their souls

"I am that I am. I am not that. I am not what. I am simply that which I am, Without definition, not finite, without limitation. I am God's creation."