As my peripatetic fate beckons once again, I have been drawn to the voice of Mary Oliver. She roamed and wandered in her region of the cosmos, but she was attentive, respectful, and caring as she did so. In her early poem "Going to Walden," she responded to people that told her she must go, … Continue reading Mary Oliver: Going to Walden
Regresé a las cumbres del Volcan Irazú (3.432 m.s.n.m.). Aunque durante el ascenso la neblina cubría sus laderas y lloviznaba, ya en el sector del cráter el viento alejó las nubes y se abrió el cielo azulísimo. Cráter Diego de la Haya Me detuve a observar el cráter activo mientras un junco volcanero (Junco vulcani), … Continue reading En las alturas del Irazú
This has been a remarkably Greek year for me. I have been able to read quite a lot of Ancient Greek philosophy and literature, and I have engaged in conversation with contemporary commentaries on those traditions. I traveled to Athens in April and came back to the Americas with a desire to return to Hellas … Continue reading Zorba: Apollo or Dionysus
I have enjoyed a leisurely weekend for the first time in several months. On Thanksgiving Day, I expressed gratitude to friends and family, but I stayed home. I slept late, drank coffee, made a simple breakfast, and read Kazantzakis's Zorba the Greek, to admire the dyonisian main character and to break with my overly apollonian … Continue reading Montaigne and Thoreau: Idle Joy
To my surprise, this year I discovered Michel de Montaigne as a good friend. I read his essay "Of Experience" with my students in a seminar on philosophy and the good life, and I felt really engaged by his attitude towards life. I particularly appreciate his hedonist view that nature weaves together what is truly … Continue reading Montaigne and Thoreau: Walking
I am thoroughly enjoying these autumn evenings reading Louise Glück's Meadowlands (1996). Her poems weave the story of Penelope, Odysseus, and Telemachus into the life of a childless, contemporary couple mired in a strained relationship. They share moments of generosity and pettiness, love and hurt, vindictiveness and remorse, neediness and aloofness, blended with instances of … Continue reading Glück: Quiet Evening
Quando eu penso em Ariadne, imagino e tento comprender três momentos na história da neta de Helios, sobrinha de Circe. O primeiro é quando ela se apaixona pelo "herói" ateniense Teseu, ao ponto de trair a confiança da sua família cretense. Como surgiu essa paixão pelo Teseu? O que a levou a ajudá-lo para fugir … Continue reading O Fio de Ariadne
Tenho curtido vários reencontros, no Brasil, nos últimos meses. Há poucos dias, por exemplo, voltei a me encontrar com a poesia de Thereza Kolbe. Em 2016, numa livraria do bairro Gonzaga em Santos, encontrei um dos seus poemários, Livro do Rio (2005). Li alguns poemas na livraria, gostei deles, e levei o poemário comigo para … Continue reading Thereza Kolbe: Mensagem
La Vida ha sido generosa desde marzo y, en Salvador de Bahía, me ha regalado tres señales de que todo va bien y voy por buen rumbo. Desde que leía novelas de Jorge Amado en mi época colegial en San José, quise venir a conocer Salvador de Bahía. Disfruté, sobre todo, las aventuras de los … Continue reading Tres señales en Salvador de Bahía
Soy león de fuego.Sediento a medianoche,bebo el reflejo de la lunasobre el lagocon sorbos ávidos.No me sacío.Quiero saltar al cieloy alcanzar a Selene,mirarla de frentepara que ilumine mis ojos doradoscon su halo divino,rugir en su oído al rasgar sus ropas níveas,acariciar su espaldacon mis garras,morderle el cuellosin clavarle los colmillos,besarla y disfrutar el encuentrode la … Continue reading El León y Selene
Daniel G. Campos 