#699 The Man Who Could See Through Fog- Henry Dumas

#699 The Man Who Could See Through Fog- Henry Dumas

Smithy arrived in a hot Texas military town early in the morning. He used to work for the rodeo up the road but a violent kick by one of the bucks did some damage he didn’t want repeated. He was here looking for a job. Suddenly he was being surrounded by a fog of some noxious smoke being emitted from an odd tractor. He ran from it, and later met the man driving the rig. 

He was assigned a job working one of those tractors and quickly adjusted to this weird little army base. The foggers spit out clouds of chemical pesticides. It’s effectiveness was questionable but the “top brass” liked to see the foggers on the grounds because it looked like it was working. It was kind of like a placebo, but actually very poisonous. Part satire, part buffoonish story, this one was a little out of the normal wheelhouse of dumas, but it was entertaining.

Rating: 7-7-7-6 Total= 27

#588 The Voice- Henry Dumas

#588 The Voice- Henry Dumas

It’s been a few months since I did a Dumas story. As always, It’s good for the soul. The Expressions are a local Harlem Gospel group. Their best singer, Spencer has died. The remaining members wander the streets in the snow looking for answers, arguing over the existence of God.

They come across a Rabbi, but find no answers; they met a priest but are no closer to a satisfying response. They visit Spencer’s house and gather with family and friends. They sing a song together and feel at peace. If you can’t find God in music, you can’t find God anywhere.

Notable Passage: “If you got a clean heart, and ask a good, honest question, God will answer you."

Rating: 8-7-8-8 Total= 31

#425 Devil Bird- Henry Dumas

#425 Devil Bird- Henry Dumas

This is a strong biblical allegory. God and Devil have come to visit to fight for the grandfather’s soul. Only they are not there to fight each other, they are partners ready to take the soul from this world to the next.

They decide the battle to be over a game of cards. Their fate lies in their own hands, literally: “you shall deal your own hand.”

“You will learn that you get no second chances in this game. Mistakes are costly.”

The story gets frantic as God and the Devil change rules, change clothes, change form. Our lives are not entirely our own.

Notable Passage: “Love is the ultimate rule…if you love the game, there is no rule."

Rating: 8-8-9-9 Total= 34

#377 Rope of Wind- Henry Dumas

#377 Rope of Wind- Henry Dumas

The dust swirled like a rope of wind behind the white men’s car. Just like a noose it usually meant death for this community. Johnny B. witnesses the Reverend being taken by the car. He runs after it, tracking the red taillights like evil eyes in the dark. He is the witness, the messenger.

“And the car appeared and reappeared like some phantom teasing him, and soon his mind lost track of time and his body became fixed, rigid, in step with some unltimate purpose that he had ordained for himself—indeed, that had been foreordained for him. Johnny B. was to be the messenger of the blood. The spirit surviving in each generation and appearing in the young. He ran on…”

Rich, meaningful, and inspiring as always.

Rating: 9-8-9-9 Total= 35

#346 The University of Man- Henry Dumas

#346 The University of Man- Henry Dumas

A watchmaker has learned all there is to his craft. His knowledge has ended.  His precise work has left him stagnant and hungry for learning. “I am run down, tired of chasing the same speck of dust away, weary of winding myself up each morning, tired of squeezing time into metal boxes.”

What follows is a vision quest, in the vein of Voltaire’s Candide or Zadig. At times he seems like a fool or a rube, but he knows that his path is leading him to something:

“It is the quest for knowledge that is holy, not the knowledge itself.”

He meets a man digging near a canal. This man is pure, he is intent, and he is undeterred. Thus the town resents him. Man is afraid of those who try to change the flow of the river. They engage in a conversation, like one of Plato’s dialogues. The topic is knowledge and education.

This story here is what makes Dumas special.

Notable Passage: “The greatest tool of education is the soul. The truly educated man is like a giant stylus etching in the sands of the earth. As he walks, words and songs flow behind him.”

Rating: 10-10-10-10 Total= 40

#313 The Marchers- Henry Dumas

#313 The Marchers- Henry Dumas

As always, Dumas delivers a powerful piece, this one a parable about power, protest, and freedom. As marchers gather, and speakers speak, a prisoner is roused from servitude, and darkness and despair.

“In the dome the silence was stirred by the sound of legions of feet marching. The rumble sifted through the years. The prisoner heard…and waited.”

“Outside, the cheers grew louder. The dome trembled. Specks of dust leaped up from centuries of rest and wandered like souls in limbo. Suddenly a passion seized the prisoner.”

“From the ground he came up slowly, as if he were a lost seed in a sunless cave, a seed that had sprouted into a pale limp stalk trying to suck a bit of precious sunlight into its impoverished leaves.”

“Today was a great day. Freedom had come to them…at least for a while…the marching of their feet was the song of their freedom.”

But the story comes with a warning, that all freedom doesn’t last as long as its only in a march. Shackles aren’t actually broken and centuries of oppression aren’t wiped away because of one day of exuberance. As hope fades, the prisoner falls back into darkness.

Rating: 9-9-10-8 Total= 36

#250 Will the Circle Be Unbroken- Henry Dumas

#250 Will the Circle Be Unbroken- Henry Dumas

This is a story about the power of music. Probe is a musician playing in a closed off all-black club in Harlem. No outsiders allowed, the power of this music was known to do some serious damage to those outside the circle.

Probe is prepared to play the Afro-horn, one of only three in the world; It is his birthright. “Probe, since his return from exile had chosen only special times to reveal the new sound. There were more rumors about it than there were ears and souls that had heard the horn speak.”

Beyond the social commentary here of protecting culture, keeping the richness of your artistic identity locked in a circle, are truly amazing descriptions of live musical performances:

“The blanket of the bass rippled and the fierce wind in all their minds blew the blanket back, and there sat the city if Samson.”

“Inside the center of the gyrations is an atom stripped of time, black. The gathering of the hunters, deeper. Coming, laced in the energy of the sun. He is blowing. Magwa’s hands. Reverence of skin. Under the single voices is the child of a woman, black. They are building back the wall, crumbling under the disturbance.”

Rating: 8-8-10-8 Total=34

#117 A Harlem Game- Henry Dumas

#117 A Harlem Game- Henry Dumas

This one is a pretty straight up story for Dumas. There is none of the spiritual or supernatural elements that make up a lot of his writing. All of the craft is still there however.

Mack wants to go to the late show but needs some money.  Jayjay warns him not to go up stairs to ask for it since he already got 50 cents earlier. But he goes up and presses his luck. Upstairs is the ongoing poker game his mother and father are involved in.

Sneaking past the trash and the blood stained stairs, he enters the smoke filled room to see his mother is running the table. Unfortunately, while he gets more money from his mother, he is schooled by his father and somehow leaves the room in debt.

Rating: 7-6-7-7 Total= 27