Kipling’s poem is as bleak an assessment of the world condition today as when he wrote it in 1908. Although he was referencing Canada modern parallels come to mind.
Stolpersteine
Tomorrow is Holocaust Memorial Day. The person who may have done most to keep memories of victims alive is German artist Gunter Demnig. Since 1992 he has been placing small square brass plaques (Stolpersteine) on pavements to mark the last place they lived. He says “a person is not forgotten until his or her name… Continue reading Stolpersteine
The Passenger
Saint Piran and the Visitation
A full fifty years had St. Piran dwelt among the sandhills between Perranzabuloe and the sea before any big rush of saints began to pour into Cornwall: for ’twas not till the old man had discovered tin for us that they sprang up thick as blackberries all over the county; so that in a way… Continue reading Saint Piran and the Visitation
Hare and Tortoise
Die Kaiserin
A colour television in the 1960s cost as much as a new, I suppose small, car. A large Dover Sole in a restaurant cost 12/6 or half a crown. I have bought a TV for £125 (the TV licence is £175) and it does everything except brush my teeth. On the other hand I don’t… Continue reading Die Kaiserin
Leopard Changes Spots
Omnia Vincit Amor
A Proposal
When Don Calogero’s arrival was announced at exactly half-past four the Prince had not yet finished his toilet; he sent a message asking the Mayor to wait a minute in his study and went on placidly embellishing himself. He plastered his hair with Lemo-liscioy Atkinson’s‘ Lime Juice and Glycerine’, a dense whitish lotion which arrived… Continue reading A Proposal