It’s been a long, long time since I entered the dVerse poetry community pub, because life is a thing and my memory banks became overloaded. But, I’ve found my way back, without using a map!
I’m happy to have found my way back and take part in the Quadrille at dVerse, hosted by De. The word we should use in this 44 word poem is ‘jump’, or a variation of it.
I hope you enjoy my variation on the fairytale The Emperor’s New Clothes!
We didn’t know we didn’t want it Until we’d passed it all around We didn’t know how to stop it So many six feet under ground
Our homes they began to empty Some tried to run far away The brave ones locked the village down Others fell to their knees to pray
The vicar held services in the fields The church was locked up tight Still the sickness danced in the air Giving us death deep in the night
We saw not a soul in fourteen months Our dead in our gardens now rest The streets have been emptied of laughter and joy But we are alive, so we must be blessed
*****
Tonight over on dVerse, Merril is our genial host and has asked to write on the theme of giving. I learned a new thing, that the Tuesday after US Thanksgiving is known as Giving Tuesday when people often donate to charitable organisations and non-profits.
Now… true to type, I have at first sight opted for the giving, or passing around, of something unpleasant – disease. My poem is inspired by the village of Eyam in Derbyshire which was infected by the Great Plague in 1665, after a parcel of infected cloth was delivered from London to the village tailor. Under the leadership of the rector, Reverend William Mompesson and his predecessor, Reverend Thomas Stanley, the village took measures to prevent the plague spreading to the surrounding area and also to limit, where possible, spread of disease within the village.
Of the 800 people living in the village, 260 died. If it hadn’t been for the brave actions the community took, the surrounding areas could have been at least as badly affected as Eyam. This is the real gift behind my poem.
The photo above is a window in the village church, telling the story of Eyam and the Great Plague. If you wold like to know more, please check out the village website here.
If you would like to read more poems on the theme of giving, please hop over to dVerse and enjoy! You could also take part if the mood strikes you!
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?!
