Ash on a Young Man’s Sleeve

Dannie Abse

1954

When breakfast was over, I had to go to the synagogue, rain or shine, for it was Saturday morning. I used to sit next to Bernard and Simon. We would wear our skull caps and whisper to each other beneath the chant of the Hebrew prayer. A man with a spade-shaped beard would stutter and mutter at us now and then and again. “Shush, shush,” his eyes…

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Creator Bio

Dannie Abse

1923–2014
With dual careers in writing and medicine, Dannie Abse was a Welsh physician, poet, playwright, and novelist who lived in London. His poetry, addressing identity and existence as well as daily life, has been collected in over a dozen volumes. In addition, Abse published more than ten plays, several novels, and essays and stories about medicine. Among other honors, he received the Charles Henry Foyle Award, the Jewish Chronicle Book Award, the Cholmondeley Award, and the Wilfred Owen poetry award.

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