David Selzer is a writer of poetry, prose fiction, screenplays and stage plays. He embraces digital platforms to share his work of more than fifty years… READ MORE


  • A SHORT HISTORY

    a-short-history-skulls_new

    For a generation, like weathercocks,
    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: this piece has been subsequently published in ‘A Jar of Sticklebacks’ – http://www.armadillocentral.com/general/a-jar-of-sticklebacks-by-david-selzer

     

     

     


    3 responses to “A SHORT HISTORY”


    1. Laura Phillips Avatar
      Laura Phillips

      The website’s a great thing – looks and user-friendliness and most importantly I felt privileged to be delving into your thoughts through your poetry.

      I’m not really a poetry reader, in that I don’t think to read it and so being given the opportunity was thoroughly enjoyable – thank you!

      A SHORT HISTORY (in FEATURED POEMS) was my favourite – a snapshot and yet covering many years, broad and yet local and encouraging me to think about greatness and great deeds alongside local life and lives cut short. Magic.

      1. David Avatar

        Your comments are a resounding vindication of why such sites should be established. Also, the poem you’ve singled out is the one I’m most pleased with!

    2. Sylvia Selzer Avatar
      Sylvia Selzer

      I’ve always been in awe of your work. Somehow, it just seems to get better and better!

    Leave a Reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Search by Tag