Two Attempts at a Theory of History
All I want to say
Is that perhaps history
Means the striking of a match
In a doorway to protect the flame
From half-hearted sleet or mizzling rain.
Or, seen another way,
What history represents
Is a choir of the mute
Singing to a deaf audience
Under the chaos of the stars.
Ian Heffernan was born in 1965 and grew up just outside London, where he still lives. He studied at University College London and the School of Oriental & African Studies. He works with the homeless.