culture / history / literature
Cultural collapse: Delhi 1857
“This whole city has become a desert.” Ghalib 1861 William Dalrymple’s The Last Mughal: the Fall…
Poem: peaches in a bowl
Today, a poem composed on the day of my daughter’s departure to study in Europe for…
Sailing to Byzantium
Since I am on holidays from work, and not consumed with duties and obligations, I have…
A task: from Milosz to me
A short post. The miracle of literature: how words crafted for another voice, at another time,…
More reflections on 2017: persistence, terror and Das Schloss
Persistence Twelve months ago I was approaching Christmas and the end of a liberating period of…
Reflections on 2017
The year is drawing to a close, and while it is yet weeks from New Year,…
Self-portrait in a time of hunger
“The storm of progress now threatens to burn the remaining archives of human memory. In an…
When I have fears
I have over the last year or so frequently relaxed in a meditative trance while listening…
Dr Cogito regrets the futility of his existence
The next in my series of Dr Cogito poems, composed fresh this morning. Dr Cogito…
Dr Cogito brings his mind to heel
Here is another in my series of Dr Cogito poems Dr Cogito brings his mind to…