Mother Need Medicine--18th century
Mother needed medicine',
Ellen proclaimed during her trial.
She wore her best clothes, stitched together
with her careful seamstress skills.
If the sun shone through the court's glass windows,
the gentlemen and ladies of the court
could see right through her patched clothes.
But still Ellen stood tall.
Her employers in the large London townhouse
were offended by her poise.
They felt it mocked them somehow
as they sat in court plotting her downfall.
Ellen was found guilty of theft from her employers.
She had hidden the beautiful glassware, silver topped,
in a basket of sewing each night as she left
the imposing townhouse.
She collected twelve pieces of cut glass tableware
before she was caught.
The thirteenth one proved unlucky for her.
Ellen was sent to jail for her misdemeanours.
Somewhere inside, she knew she had done wrong.
The problem for Ellen was that it didn't feel wrong.
Cut glass bought a lot of doctor's care for her mother.
The tableware was never found.
'Mother needed medicine', Ellen said,
the cold steel of handcuffs tightening
around her wrists.
Brigid O'Connor
Posted over on her site Sort of Writing
Listed as #53 over on Magpie Tales 53
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