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dVerse Quadrille Monday – Nameless

freyathewriter 18 Comments

Image – author’s own

London salivated
over our fresh meat

tabloid hacks
prostituted for pennies
with sketches of our demise
making his name
making their name
off our benighted backs

Name us:

Polly Nicholls
Annie Chapman
Elizabeth Stride
Kate Eddowes
Mary Jane Kelly

He shall not be named 

*****

This week in dVerse Quadrille Monday, our welcoming host Mish asked to mull draw with words a poem based on the word, ‘in any way we feel, as long as the word ‘sketch’ is included somewhere, in some related form. Of course, it being a quadrille, there absolutely must be 44 words in the poem, no more and no less. I’ve counted my offering several times, so I hope I’ve managed to count correctly!

My poem is inspired by the women, the ‘canonical five’ who were brutally murdered at the hands of Jack the Ripper in Victorian London. They were incorrectly much maligned as prostitutes, with this role being looked down on and criticised for decades. Instead, they were poor, working class women, trying to make a life in an extraordinarily tough environment. If you want to find out more about them as women and not just victims, I can highly recommend Hallie Rubenhold’s book The Five. They deserve to be known.

Do head on over to read the imaginative offerings of the poets who make up this wonderful dVerse poetry community – and why not take part yourself?!

In swirling snow – W3 Prompt

freyathewriter 21 Comments

You disappear, in swirling snow
I whisper ‘Daddy, please don’t go’
You nod and wave to say goodbye
You turn away, I wonder why
Watching from a misty window

I turn away, I mutter ‘No’
This world scares me, I want to go
Shy and frightened, I start to cry
you disappear

Hiding tears, I hang my head low
I want you here to say ‘I know’
Your gentle hand, a light, soft sigh
Be with me now, you have to try
I’ve come this far, don’t let me go
You disappear

*****

Through taking part in Open Link Night, I discovered a new-to-me poetry prompt – W3. Organised by David over at The Skeptic’s Kaddish, each week a different poet is Poet of the Week, who’s poem each participant reads before submitting their poem in response to the prompt. The poems are then read by the Poet of the Week who selects the next week’s Poet of the Week.

W3 Prompt #82: Wea’ve Written Weekly’s poet of the week, Sarah, prompted us to write a rondeau inspired by a childhood memory. I have never written a rondeau before so this was challenging and fun. It has a unique stanza and rhyme pattern that means you do need to dig around in your brain to find the right words, all while remaining true to your chosen theme.

My childhood memory is more reminiscent of a running theme – an intermittent father. This theme runs behind a lot of my work, sometimes overtly, most often not.

I hope you enjoy reading it – do hop on over to the link above on The Skeptic’s Kaddish blog to read more of the wonderful poems. You could even take part yourself!

Murder – dVerse Open Link Night

freyathewriter 32 Comments

Image – author’s own

It descends suddenly, the veil of darkness,
is it not the same for you?
my vitriol rises, my bile erupts, a
conviction of your subhuman, less-than status
that ignites my thirst — 
killing overwhelms me, irresistibly.
under the circumstances, I must be excused (I will not beg),
the nature of the beast wears a
cloak spattered with guts and hatred
of which I have become overly fond — 
war has dehumanised and mechanised me
is it not the same for you?
nothing is beneath me anymore 
but the bones and viscera on which I tread.
an empty shell am I,
act kindly and I will carve a knife-smile in your face,
of course, before I bestow 
murder upon you.

This poem was inspired by the Albert Einstein quote below, each word of which begins each line above.

“It is my conviction that killing under the cloak of war is nothing but an act of murder.”

It was written in response to much that I have learned about the world since I watched “The World at War” with my parents when I was growing up. This 26 episode British TV series, narrated by Laurence Olivier, chronicles the Second World War and is widely acclaimed — the series focuses on how life and death throughout the war years affected members of the armed forces, civilians, concentration camp inmates and other victims of the war. Images from this series have never left me, all these year later.

*******

Tonight is Open Link Night over on dVerse, hosted by the lovely Grace. Tonight there is no theme for us to follow, just write a poem on whatever subject suits our fancy, and submit it for others to read.

There is always something to learn and discover, so why not hop on over to the Open Link Night and read the wonderful poetry that is on offer? Or, if you’re feeling daring, why not take part yourself?

Happy reading!