Voyages in verse and prose

Subscribe

Otto Bam

Otto Bam

I'm a writer and musician born and raised in South Africa. I write about theology and the arts.

A Lenten Reflection: The Agony in the Garden

A Lenten Reflection: The Agony in the Garden

Mantegna’s "The Agony in the Garden" helps us consider the moment in the garden as it relates to our anticipation of Easter – it lays bare the lengthened hours before Christ’s betrayal and torture and death.

Winter Confession

A poem written at the onset of winter in Edinburgh, 2022.

First Snow

December 8, upon seeing snowfall for the first time.

Transplantation – Autumn Reflections

Transplantation – Autumn Reflections

Be thy heart a well of love, my child, Flowing, and free, and sure, For a cistern of love, though undefiled, Keeps not the spirit pure. – George MacDonald, Phantastes I have been transplanted about three months now, from South Africa to Scotland. Upside down, where winter is summer and summer

The Blessing of the Angel of Edinburgh

The Blessing of the Angel of Edinburgh

The month of my arrival to Edinburgh has come to an end. October is here with sobering signs of the months ahead – a storm blew into the city yesterday that confirmed, for me, the city's reputation for foul weather. Up until now, one would have been excused for