All
I did was remove a thorn,
and
now that lion follows me
everywhere,
I’m not sure if
it’s
gratitude or the prospect
of
the next meal. He watches
as
I search the texts and scrolls,
seeking
the word, the phrase,
the
understanding to transform
the
Greek into Latin. The Latin
of
Virgil led me to the Greek
of
Jesus, Greek and Aramaic,
and
so it seemed right to bring
Jesus
to the Latin. The word
is
still the word, even without
a
translator. The lion still
roars,
with or without
the
thorn.
Painting: Saint Jerome in His Study, oil
on canvas by Vincenzo Catena (about 1510); National Gallery, London.
