Sparrow

Jr., Simeon Dumdum 06/24/2017

Once, while Henry David Thoreau was hoeing in a garden, a sparrow alighted on his shoulder. As is the wont of little birds, it stayed there only for a moment, and then flew away. Thoreau considered it…

Bread of angels

Simeon Dumdum Jr. 06/17/2017

Like everyone else, I like good food no matter where it comes from for as long as it is clean. I have no special knowledge of cooking, but I do have some eating skills. And to any…

Behind the rain

Simeon Dumdum Jr. 06/10/2017

Because the baby kept her up all night, her mother turned her over to us in the morning so she could get some sleep. Naturally, we received our granddaughter with not a little excitement. After lolling and…

Warm breast and bright wings

Simeon Dumdum Jr. 06/03/2017

Always, when I yearn for religious poetry, I turn to Gerard Manley Hopkins. His words seem freshly minted, and the delight I get from reading his poems does not differ from that of a child who discovers…

Ithaca

Simeon Dumdum Jr. 05/27/2017

Journeys fascinate me, especially the journey home. More than the setting out, I find the coming back more heart tugging The first has to do with discovery, the second with recovery, and it may be said that,…

Christ recrucified

Simeon Dumdum Jr. 05/20/2017

In 1953, Nikos Kazantzakis published a novel entitled, “The Greek Passion.” It is set in the 1920s, towards the end of the Greco-Turkish war. The village of Lycovrissi, which lies inside Turkey, holds a live Passion play…

Who killed cock Robin?

Simeon Dumdum Jr. 05/13/2017

Most literature textbooks include a short story, entitled, “In a Grove,” by a Japanese author, Ryunosoke Akutagawa. It first appeared in the January 1922 issue of a Japanese publication. The legendary director, Akira Kurosawa, based his award-winning…

Variation on a theme of Sappho

Simeon Dumdum Jr. 05/06/2017

Except for one, we only have fragments of Sappho’s poems. Among the best known is Fragment No. 104A, which Anne Carson translates into English in this manner: Evening you gather back all that dazzling dawn has put…

The road less travelled by

Simeon Dumdum Jr. 04/29/2017

Years ago, I strolled about the seminary grounds with an Irish colleague, who kept reciting a poem, which, he said, was by Robert Frost, and whose title was, “The Road Not Taken.” That introduced me to Frost,…

For love

Simeon Dumdum Jr. 04/22/2017

I didn’t know what got into me — I took a shot of my lunch with my phone camera. It was not because the prandium was great. Why, I only had fried fish, squash stewed in coconut…

Piero della Francesca’s resurrection

Simeon Dumdum Jr. 04/15/2017

What thoughts did Piero della Francesca have When he painted the fresco of the Resurrection? Was it a bright day in Sansepolcro As he applied the pigments on the lime and sand? Anyway, the real brush is…

The tears of God

Simeon Dumdum Jr. 04/01/2017

In Padua, northern Italy, at the Cappella Scrovegni (Arena Chapel), we find frescoes done by Giotto portraying scenes from the life of Christ. One of them depicts an incident narrated in the Gospel of John, about the…

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