Elizabeth Barton: Reconstructing Her Word
They think they have my measure these lords with their ladies
who come flaunting fine white linen;
dainty Spanish blackwork, sleeves of split satin
their bodices and jewelled French hoods.
They arrive in the company of pink-cheeked clerics
whose faces shine honest as babies;
are succeeded by their lawyers and gentlemen stewards,
merchantmen, guildsmen, the poor.
It pleases me to see my social betters
come strutting as I labour in pursuit of God’s Business.
Later the bishops will scuttle like beetles,
huddling in hard knots to confer.
Brows will wrinkle; heads nod like sages
as they genuflect in the presence of such sanctity:
Such unlooked for wisdom, Sister, so much holiness and grace
in the person of a woman, base-born.
Abigail Ottley is a member of Cornwall’s all-female Mor Poets Collective.
Her collection ‘Out of Eden’ (Yaffle Press) celebrates the strength and resilience of working class women. She is based in Penzance.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/abigailelizabethottley/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/abigail_elizabeth_ottley/
Editor’s note: Elizabeth Barton, 1506-1534, also known as ‘The Nun of Kent’ and ‘The Holy Maid of Kent’ was an English Catholic nun respected at one time for her religious visions. She was executed at the age of 28 for making allegedly ‘false’ and ‘treasonous’ prophecies concerning the marriage of Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn.
Castle Poetry 
Leave a comment