Cascade Lady

By mcscraic

Thu, 15 Sep 2022
  • 1543 reads
11 comments
 

Cascade Lady

By Paul McCann

 

They shaved her head and fed her bread

In the prison where she stayed

and the music played all day inside her head .

 

She raised her fist and blew a kiss

and said I’m too young for this

in the clink with all the stink of injustice

 

She stood her ground so well

in a tiny cell that stunk like hell

until the day came when she  said her farewell .

 

She was so cool and beautiful

and they treated her so cruel

then they called her names

and  locked her up in chains.

 

Cascade lady of charades

your audience was in your hands

you escaped out from the cage

to freedom beyond all their demands  .

 

.

  .

 

Certificate PG
Poem
poemsbypaulmccann
Other Non-fiction

Comments

Submitted by lenchenelf on

...you label it as non-fiction, might I ask who you are referring to in the song?

Best wishes

Lena

 

Submitted by mcscraic on

The lady's name is Martha Gregory . She was sent as a convict to Van  Diemans land better known as Tasmania for stealing a pair of shoes  . She got 7 years and did hard labour as well as time in solitary .

While on work release she got pregnant while working for  a local identity .

The child was taken  from her . 

 

I met her descendant who told her story See the link below for more information .

https://convictrecords.com.au/convicts/gregory/martha/65883

 

Thanks for your interest .

 Kind regards 

Paul 

 

Submitted by lenchenelf on

That was very helpful

best wishes

Lena

 

Submitted by mcscraic on

Thanks Lena . I appreciate your comment .

kind regards

Paul 

 

Submitted by hilary west on

Hi,

 Like Lena I am intrigued to know who this lady is. I enjoyed your poem but would like to know who she was !!!

hilary     smiley

 

Submitted by mcscraic on

Lovely to hear from you .

The lady's name is Martha Gregory . She was a convict in Van Diemans land .

I'm attaching a link for you . As well as being imprisoned Martha went through a factory as a female .

The place known as Cascades Female Factory hence the title of my tribute poem 

Cadcade Lady  . This site is in Hobart , Tasmania and is now on the world heritage list  .

Kind regards .

Paul 

https://convictrecords.com.au/convicts/gregory/martha/65883

 

Submitted by hilary west on

hi,

Thanks for enlightening me. I looked at the link: it was a most interesting document.  At least the law has come a long way since the 19th century.

Hilary   smileysad

 

Submitted by mcscraic on

Hi Hilary ,

Martha lived until she was 72 . She did marry and live a free life however the life she had as a young girl was hard . As you say we;ve come a long way since those dark days in the history of law enforcemant .

Martha now can rest in peace .

Thanks again for your interest with this Poem / Song

Kind regards Paul 

 

Submitted by David Kirtley on

The injustices of the past are hard to accept. Why was authority so cruel? Punishment really did keep people in their place, but thankfully we live in kinder times than that now! Great poem!

Submitted by mcscraic on

Acceptance of the past is often driven by the inability to 

change what happened . What happened then was cruel .

If anything we can look back and see how much we have changed .

Thank you David , I appreciate your comment here .

Kind  regards 

Paul 

 

 

Submitted by mcscraic on

In appreciation for your comment 

Kind  regards 

Paul