Que Sera
- Stephen Kingsnorth
- 5 days ago
- 1 min read
A clockmaker builds a device that doesn't just tell time - it alters it. Write about the consequences of their invention and the moral dilemmas they face.
His workshop was in Coventry,
the city blitzed during the war,
his family amongst those killed.
Emerging decades afterwards,
Enigma, Nazi code machine,
had been cracked and raid known about.
Maintaining secrecy was all;
decision made, Godiva ride,
for laid bare as the city paid.
And now devised, new time engine,
machine that made Time Lords of us,
so we would know and could avert?
The future brought to present time,
a gift unwrapped if so desired,
disease where interventions cure?
But who is ‘us’ and who are ‘we’,
as key too, be that future will,
when time stands still, tomorrow now?
In his clock hands, as ne’er before
the fate of more than Coventry;
so that is where he sent himself,
forever silent, Que Sera.
I like this. Would make a great short story. There are a few different suggestions as to the origin of the phrase "sent to Coventry". I know that you are a Freeman of the Brough of Warrington so this might interest you:
When I recieved the Freedom of the City of London, I was told that historically it meant your work was deemed of a high enough standard to be Free to trade in the City. However if you were sruck-off for shoddy work or poor service then you would have to seek work in a town where the Livery Companies and Guilds did not control quality. The biggest of these being Coventry. You would be shunned by your peers…