“If I forget thee, Oh Jerusalem!” Jerusalem, The Golden. The Arabs call the city ‘Al Quds’, “The Holy’. It was deemed sacred from pre-history. Iconoclast scholars suggest that Jerusalem was actually the holiest place in Islam, and that like Islam itself and the Prophet, Mecca and Medina were retrofitted to suit the conqueror’s narrative. A … Continue reading Amazing Grace : There’s Magic In The Air
2013 was the sixtieth anniversary of the death peerless Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, one of the many famous artists who departed this planet in New York’s Chelsea Hotel. The following piece by Peter Craven is a beautiful tribute, illustrating the magic of Dylan Thomas’ poetry. And listen, pray, to the man himself reciting his poems. … Continue reading The Magic of Dylan Thomas
These are the lands of testament and prophecy, of sacrifice and sacrament, of seers and sages, of vision and vicissitude, of warriors and holy men. The spiritual and the temporal have melded here since time immemorial. We still see the remnants of ancient empires and the echoes of their faiths. We can chart their decline … Continue reading A Middle East Miscellany قصص الشرق الأوسط
And it’s oh, what a beautiful, Oh, Oh Lord, what a beautiful city Twelve gates to the city, hallelujah! Reverend Gary Davis We all have a city or, if we are fortunate, cities of our heart. A place you see for the first time and say “I am home”. It is … Continue reading Rocky Road to Heaven’s Gate
“If I forget thee, Oh Jerusalem!” Jerusalem, The Golden. The Arabs call the city ‘Al Quds’, “The Holy’. It was deemed sacred from pre-history. Iconoclast scholars suggest that Jerusalem was actually the holiest place in Islam, and that like Islam itself and the Prophet, Mecca and Medina were retrofitted to suit the conqueror’s narrative. A … Continue reading Oh, Jerusalem
As I relate in my earlier post, ‘Amazing Grace – There’s Magic In The Air‘ : “from the Jaffa Gate, we look out from our balcony in the Imperial Hotel, a late 19th Century mix of trash and treasure, five-star history, and ten-star views”. Planning our recent visit to Jerusalem (we were there in May 2014, … Continue reading The Grand Old New Imperial Hotel
In a highway service station Over the month of June Was a photograph of the earth Taken coming back from the moon And you couldn’t see a city On that marbled bowling ball Or a forest or a highway Or me here least of all You couldn’t see these cold water restrooms Or this baggage … Continue reading Song of the Road (2) – The Accidental Traveller
These were our children who died for our lands: they were dear in our sight. We have only the memory left of their home-treasured sayings and laughter. The price of our loss shall be paid to our hands, not another’s hereafter. Neither the Alien nor Priest shall decide on it. That is our right. But … Continue reading A Son Goes To War – the grief of Rudyard Kipling
The world was young, the mountains green, No stain yet on the Moon was seen, No words were laid on stream or stone, When Durin woke and walked alone. The Song of Durin, JRR Tolkien In Innovation, the final installment of Peter Ackroyd’s entertaining and informative History of England, he writes: “The post-war years had … Continue reading One ring to rule us all – does Tolkien matter?
In That Howling Infinite 