Cowan Bridge School Poem by Sheena Blackhall

The uniform picked the poorest out
Charity kids, to mock and tease
The Bronte sisters, youngest there
Left Haworth village for spite, disease.

Charlotte, short sighted, held her nose
Like a tiny bat, close to the page
Up before dawn to break the ice
To wash. Small sparrow in a cage

Breakfast of porridge, burnt, the norm
Lessons. The stool, with the dunce's cap
The cane, the shamings, the Faith of Rage
Where was the God of Love in that?

Sunday. A six mile walk in rain
A thundering sermon, a meagre snack
Cowan Bridge where the innocents died
Taken by Fate to Hell and back