Often, the rescued poem story or observation wants to emerge fairly easily; however, today’s did not.
The two pages of source text didn’t have many of the usual useful conjunctions and pronouns, or verbs and nouns that I could connect. But I have to take what I get, them’s the rules.
So this one was dragged out, silently roaring, from pages 218 and 10 of The Devourers and Marie Tarnowska respectively, both by Annie Vivanti Chartres.
empty girl
sulphur-haired girl
of the clear eyes and meek face
is seated, motionless
by the prisoner’s wall
did she murder her child
with those delicate hands?
with those lips curving slightly
into a faint smile?
yes, yes she did
driven from her bed of shame
by the ruthless sisters
she was so ill-behaved, they said
curiosity and caresses with a man:
quite execrable behaviour, they said
here she is
do you see her?
silent, alone, empty
she has folded herself into herself
waiting to be hung
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