#22- The Silent Woman

Brompton Cemetery is one of the Magnificent Seven cemeteries. It is located in the Royal London Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and was originally consecrated in 1840. One of its more famous residents is Fanny Brawne, the fiancée and muse to English Romantic poet John Keats. When word got out about their relationship, sometime after Keats’ death, the press vilified Fanny Brawne for being unworthy of the affection of such a great literary hero. Plus ça change, amirite? 

The Silent Woman 

I am the silent woman - letters lost -

and so they choose to reconstruct me whole

from his words only - oh! but at what cost?

As misinterpretation takes its toll. 

I wish to be a book myself, intact,

and not a hasty postscript on a page.

Instead my name is slandered and attacked,

and I am now a conduit for rage. 

Society abhors a woman’s worth

and reconsiders only when she’s dead;

I hear their words reverberate through earth,

not dampening the roaring lies they spread. 

I am the poet’s widow, come what may,

my reputation built from mis-fired clay.

LM

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Photo Credit: Wikipedia