A SHORT HISTORY
For a generation, like weather cocks,
their skeletons swung near the highway.
James Price and Thomas Brown had robbed the Mail.
Years turned. The Gowy flooded and the heath
flowered. Travellers noted the bones
hanging in chains by the Warrington road.
Justices ordered the gibbet removed,
the remains disposed of. In Price’s skull,
while Napoleon was crossing the Alps
or Telford building bridges or Hegel
defining Historical Necessity
or Goya painting Wellington’s portrait,
a robin made its nest.
Note: first published on the site April 2009.
John Huddart
April 26, 2019A rich collection, starting with the much loved ‘A Short History’ – which serves for an appropriate and ironic title for the ten magnificent years of your writing for the web – it has been a lifetime’s work, and many lifetimes conveyed. It is also an inspiration for which I am truly grateful – as are all your devoted fans!
Alan Horne
May 3, 2019One of the best, David. The last sentence always made me smile, but I’ve only just noticed that it includes all the achievements of civilization: empire, industry, intellect and art.