Executioner of Edith Thompson, 1923
She had to be carried to the shed
but it wasn’t like they said
that she “disintegrated as a human creature”.
She was restrained and intoxicated
so it couldn’t have been like they said
that she “screamed all the way”.
She did bleed from her private parts
but it wasn’t like they said
that her “insides fell out”.
She was autopsied and declared
so it couldn’t have been like they said
that “the drop was a coffin birth”.
Natalie Scott is a Teesside-based poet and educator with a PhD in Creative Writing. She has collections published by Indigo Dreams, Bradshaw Books and Mudfog, as well as many appearances in literary journals including Ambit, Agenda and Orbis. Her collection Berth – Voices of the Titanic was awarded runner-up for the Cork Literary Review Manuscript Competition, 2011. Her latest project Rare Birds – Voices of Holloway Prison was awarded funding from the Arts Council of England.