Is there sex in heaven? and other essays bypassing a passing world - Dumdum, Simeon Jr. (Quezon City, Philippines Bughaw, an imprint of Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2021)
Part one: In dreams -- The potholes of the mind -- The locust years -- Why I am not a painter -- The stone on the driveway -- Witness to the light - Ethereal voice -- Part two: Joseph's dream of many colors -- Door -- Music for flute and guitar -- In dreams -- How I almost met the three kings - Moving star -- When does a poem become a poem? -- Water -- The color, sound, taste, and smell of grace -- Dance -- Simplicity -- Anabel, Melet, and the Sto. Niño -- Sunrise -- Going to prison -- Things forsaken for a greater love -- Chekhov's gun -- Part three: The devil and his poisons -- What we really desire -- Lead, kindly light -- Parables -- In search of the perfect rose -- The lady in the egg-yolk -- Yellow vest -- Sleeping with the enemy -- The party's over -- Come in through the roof -- Of the first water -- Rose, where did you get that red? -- When time stops -- How to grow and care for a papaya -- A portrait of Van Gogh as Lazarus -- What then is time? -- The face of Christ -- The first stone -- Part four: Into the garden, under the moon -- The long hot summer -- The active voice -- On the road -- Breakfast -- The wounds of love -- Alleluia! -- April at the gate -- Labyrinth -- About prayer -- Beyond the last -- Part five: The coins of the same spirit -- Ponte di amore -- Goatherd -- May sky -- Love's pain -- Thought and memory -- The branch will not break -- The amazing promise of rain -- Oh, what a beautiful ... -- Fruit that remains -- Three in one -- Beyond sight, within love -- A personal pentecost -- Between earth and sky -- The sound of food -- Breath -- Love in motion -- Building a house -- The sign of love -- A larger, more stable world -- Eating with sinners -- The redemption of the senses -- Night flower -- Sacralized physicality -- Seedtime and harvest -- Best of all -- The name of the woman -- The sleeping god -- Sparrow -- The birth of John the Baptist -- Home alone with God -- Continually conversing with God as with a friend -- All he asks of me -- What every bricks wants to be -- Two for the road -- The ginger pot -- The lightness of loving -- The bystander effect -- Song of the open road -- Seeds of time -- My neighbor -- The better part of living -- Instruction manual -- Anyone there? -- The right thing -- Father Christmas -- The cyclist and his rolls -- The parable of my life -- Crazy -- Our daily bread -- What the Lord really means -- Greed -- How to make an omelette -- Sparrow on my shoulder -- Walking on water -- Waiting -- Why I wear an Alb of old rose -- The Last Supper -- Women and dogs -- Fire -- And there you'll find a gate -- About the tiger -- God's initials -- Searching for the perfect door -- With this ring I thee wed -- The fruit of time -- Trip to Jerusalem -- The hospitality of God -- How to fight a thousand battles -- The God within -- Another September -- Planning for battle -- The lost piece of silver -- Calligraphy -- The rewards and responsibilities of looking -- Lost and found -- Harlequin -- The collar -- The hours -- Rich man, poor man -- Troublesome thing, this poem -- The night of the senses -- Shadow -- Candle in the wind -- A new life -- The time of fruit -- The tree of faith -- God alone -- Birdcage -- How to gracefully turn down a wedding invitation -- I have not deserved you -- The diary of a country judge -- The nature of time -- When October goes -- Fur Elise -- The scent of light -- To become world for you -- The voice that is meek within us -- Day and night -- Perfect happiness -- Of time and place and All Souls' Day -- Fractured by joy -- Angels in the outfield -- November -- Market -- Is there sex in heaven -- Mission: impossible -- Tree of life -- Zen and the art of praying attention -- Bonfire of the vanities -- The king of time -- The last day -- King of hearts -- The last temptation of Eve -- Age-defying -- Vanilla heaven.
Keywords: Philippine essays (English); Spiritual life; Sex -- Religious aspects