for Catherine Murphy, the last woman, a counterfeiter,
burned at the stake in England
England, 1789 they burned
a woman one final time, for coining
though her husband hung. She would wait her turn
until an eighth man swung before joining
executioner’s bacchanal. Female
immolation is law for crimes of high
treason, heresy, counterfeit — the males
dispatched by gallows quick. Immodest, why,
the jurists say, that women must be staked
this way — prevents exposure, public eyes.
The body must be pulverized. Forsakes
both suffering, logical fallacy
that fire does burn away the clothes the same,
the law decrees women a modest flame.
Kristin Garth is a Pushcart, Best of the Net & Rhysling nominated sonnet stalker. Her poetry has stalked magazines like Glass, Yes, Five:2: One, Former Cactus, Occulum & many more. She has six chapbooks including Shakespeare for Sociopaths (Hedgehog Poetry Press), Pink Plastic House (Maverick Duck Press), Puritan U (Rhythm & Bones Press March 2019) and The Legend of the Were Mer (Thirty West Publishing House March 2019). Her full length, Candy Cigarette is available now from The Hedgehog Poetry Press), and a fantasy collaborative full length A Victorian Dollhousing Ceremony forthcoming in June (Rhythm & Bones Lit). In January of 2020, she has a full length Flutter: Southern Gothic Fever Dream from TwistiT Press and Dewy Decimals from Arkay Artists. Follow her on Twitter: (@lolaandjolie), and her website kristingarth.com