The angel before the face of the Messiah

Simeon Dumdum Jr. 12/10/2016

For some reason, the Renaissance painters, Leonardo da Vinci and Caravaggio, portray John the Baptist as an effeminate character. Leonardo’s version, considered as his last painting, depicts John as an androgynous person, a male Mona Lisa with…

The work of attention

Simeon Dumdum Jr. 12/03/2016

December. This year, the night of the eve of the first day, the wife and I found ourselves in the midst of a rainstorm on our way to visit my mother-in-law. Luckily, we had kept rubber boots…

Between the crisis and the catastrophe

Simeon Dumdum Jr. 11/26/2016

Before retiring last night, I had our lamp and radio, two vital tools during a calamity, recharged. The weather reports had warned of a tropical storm that would make landfall after midnight. We happened to live in…

The garden of earthly delights

Simeon Dumdum Jr. 11/19/2016

The Museo del Prado in Madrid houses “The Garden of Earthly Delights,” a triptych done in oil on oak by the 16th century Dutch painter, Hieronymus Bosch. The work has drawn many diverse interpretations, especially the central…

Edifice of marble and gold with bronze entrances

Simeon Dumdum Jr. 11/12/2016

Watching our seven-year-old son putting the Lego bricks together, I felt so very old-time. At seven I played with marbles and rubber bands, and later with domino tiles, which, while having a rough similitude to the Lego…

The dance of angels

Simeon Dumdum Jr. 11/05/2016

I remember a movie, “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers,” which came out sixty-two years ago (I saw it much later, in case you’re now doing the math). Many regard it as one of the best American musical…

The mum also rises

Simeon Dumdum Jr. 10/29/2016

In the midst of a crowd, I have trouble watching an event because of my height. I would need to stand on something raised or join a group of people shorter than me. Fortunately, at weddings, during…

Raphael and his ostrich

Simeon Dumdum Jr. 10/15/2016

Langston Hughes wrote a short poem entitled “Justice”: That Justice is a blind goddess Is a thing to which we black are wise: Her bandage hides two festering sores That once perhaps were eyes. Hughes was a…

The gratitude of birds

Simeon Dumdum Jr. 10/08/2016

Years ago, I wrote this poem entitled “Thank You.” To think that I owe you my deepest thanks, And I have done nothing except sit here, As though expecting someone to appear Suddenly, on the path between…

Under the rain

Simeon Dumdum Jr. 09/24/2016

IN the second half of the 19th century, Francis James Child published a compilation of traditional ballads from England and Scotland entitled, “The English and Scottish Popular Ballads,” popularly known as “Child Ballads.” Among the ballads was…

The way back

Simeon Dumdum Jr. 09/10/2016

It bears the caption, “Mountains.” In fact, it features a trail that winds between mountains, towards a gap that itself leads to more, bluer mountains. It marks, as it moves from side to side, the middle of…

You again, September

Simeon Dumdum Jr. 09/03/2016

September. Day one finds me and the wife in a coffee shop beside the sea. Three couples, including us, sit inside the shop, forming a triangle. A young mother and her infant prefer to stay outside to…

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