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Open Poetry #22
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Convict Women
| Open Poetry #22 |
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Convict Women |
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Dee Member Elite
since 2000-08-19
Posts 2330Queensland, Australia 
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Sun streaming in through the window across an empty rocking chair. Embers cold in the fireplace, the only signs that life was there. A gentle breeze, cool to the skin stirs up years of dust on the floor. Fibres visible in the light, swirling, they float out of the door. Feelings of sadness abound here from horrors they had to endure. Taken from family and loved ones to be left on a stranger's shore. Their crimes not always grievous, oft times only petty at best. The punishment for being poor was to put on the convict dress. Never to walk on English soil, never again their homeland to view. The old ways are gone forever and they must start their life anew. Written after a visit to Port Arthur and the Ross Female Factory in Tasmania. For those non Aussies they were jails for convicts. Stand straight and tall, not the reflection as others see you, but as you truely are. Clearwater |
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| © Copyright 2002 Dee Manders - All Rights Reserved | |||
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Sunshine
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-25
Posts 63354Listening to every heart |
The names of the jails are many...and for some, to an extent, still exist... well done, Dee... |
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HopeS Member Elite
since 2000-12-22
Posts 4596Perth Western Australia |
excellently expressed Dee , having lived in Tasmania for 11 years I have visited both these places , although nowadays very , very scenic , there is still that cold , sad eerie feeling when viwing these sites Hope |
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Nightshade 
since 2001-08-31
Posts 13962just out of reach |
Very well written and expressed. Chris Life is not measured by breaths you take, but by moments that take your breath away. |
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Seymour Tabin Member Empyrean
since 1999-07-07
Posts 31720Tamarac Fla |
Dee, A fine write, enjoyed the read. |
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Bill Charles Member Patricius
since 2000-07-11
Posts 10619highways, & byways, for now |
Dee - nicely told... BC |
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Mistletoe Angel
since 2000-12-17
Posts 32816Portland, Oregon |
 (big hugggssssss) Oh Dee, this is just horrifying, I know this grief so well and my heart goes out to all the families who were banished from their soils and put through these trials! (wipes tears) This is powerful, sweet friend, we all love you so much! You have such a beautiful heart, sweet Dee, thank you for sharing!  May love and light always shine upon you! Love, Noah Eaton "Underneath your clothes there's an endless story..." |
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Magnus
since 2001-10-10
Posts 14135South Carolina, USA |
A sad thought, yet many other atrocities have been the fate of women over hundreds of years....sad to say...they continue... Dee, you did an excellent job of penning what you saw in mind and eyes... |
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Dee Member Elite
since 2000-08-19
Posts 2330Queensland, Australia |
Sunshine, it is sad that some still exist. Hope, I went there about a year ago and the places really touched me. I felt like I wasn't alone, very eerie. Chris, thanks for your comments. Dee Stand straight and tall, not the reflection as others see you, but as you truely are. Clearwater |
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Dee Member Elite
since 2000-08-19
Posts 2330Queensland, Australia |
Seymour and Bill, glad you enjoyed. Noah, what can I say?  Magnus, it was a strange feeling there I felt compelled to write it down. Dee Stand straight and tall, not the reflection as others see you, but as you truely are. Clearwater |
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Bec Member
since 2001-02-23
Posts 475Canberra |
Wow... I didn't get to go with you, but having done plenty of Australian history at school, and having "The Potato Factory" as my favourite book, I know it was atrocious what happened to those people. And now to add to the desperation of the place is the Port Arthur massacre. Very powerful. Bec  "Poetry and Hums aren't things which you get, they're things which get you. And all you can do is to go where they can find you." |
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Parker Member Elite
since 2000-01-06
Posts 3129ON |
Great write, very interesting. More more poetic history lessons please. Parker |
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nakdthoughts Member Laureate
since 2000-10-29
Posts 19200Between the Lines |
I agree with Parker..many of us here in the states can't relate and you have given us a view of the past. *s M |
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Dee Member Elite
since 2000-08-19
Posts 2330Queensland, Australia |
Bec, hun, you and I will go there together one day. I know you will love Tassie as much as I did. Park, want to join us? Glad you liked this. I will try a bit more of the history stuff just for you.nakdthoughts, I'm pleased that I wrote something about our history that was of interest to more than just Aussies. Dee Stand straight and tall, not the reflection as others see you, but as you truely are. Clearwater |
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