Defeated Story poem for M lady Ernestine
A yellowed skull, still on display
above the oaken fire place
A relic from a by gone day.
Which it is possible to trace
back for five hundred years or more.
I hate the thing my host explains
grotesque against modern décor.
It can’t be moved or it complains.
The house re- echoes to its screams.
Until its back in place once more.
It’s been a fixture now it seems
Since fifteen hundred sixty four
Although it has been exorcised
and given Christian burial.
It’s very quickly recognised
there’ll be no peace until the skull
Is returned to its proper place
upon the panelled chimney breast
. A fact all owners have to face.
Though some have put it to the test.
It’s not a conversation piece.
Although subject of fierce debate.
If it is moved its screams won’t cease
until it hangs above the grate
The legend says he was betrayed
and murdered by an enemy.
Who had seduced a serving maid
who had allowed him free entry.
This story can’t be verified
No written records still remain
But I for one am terrified
and will not try to move again.
This yellowed skull from long ago,
which hangs above the fireplace.
That’s why it is there still on show
The passing years can not erase.
The skulls determination
to rest in peace just where it is
on open exhibition.
No power on earth can alter this.
[...] Read more
poem by Ivor Or Ivor.e Hogg
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