they put us in prison
simply for taking petitions
we submitted
we allowed them to dress us in prison clothes
we allowed them to put us in solitary confinement
we allowed them to treat us as ordinary criminals,
and put us amongst the most degraded of those criminals
and we were very glad of the experience
because out of that experience
we learned of the need for prison reform
we learned of the fearful mistakes
that men of all nations have made
when it is a question of dealing with human beings
we learned of some of the appalling evils
of our so-called civilisation
we could not have learned in any other way
except by going right through that prison experience
It was valuable experience
and we were glad to get it
But there came a time when we said
"It is unjust to send political agitators to prison
merely asking for justice
and we will not submit any longer."
- a poetic spin of an extract from Emmeline Pankhurst's Freedom or Death speech
delivered in Hartford, Connecticut November 13, 1913
Poetry Form: erasure poetry
Linking to:
Imaginary Garden With Real Toads - In the Footsteps of Suffragettes
