Purple Gypsies in a Mining Town

A poem about a Gypsy cannibal band who live down a mine.

 

My Mum was a barmaid and my brother was a clown

In a miserable dump of a mining town.

 

The harbour smelt like mould

and the houses looked like brothels

and the cats killed your dogs and the drunkards pissed in bottles.

 

My school was a dump

and the children picked on me

and the ceiling had a leak

and the teacher had no teeth.

 

But I didn't attend for long,

and I wasn't exactly sad

but my mother needed help

 because my brother had gone mad.

You see, my brother was a clown

In a s****y little circus

Which was paradise for prostitutes,

for drunkards and for perverts.

 

Plus, my brother a good clown,

but others were pretty crap

so the Circus lost their customers

and that was the end of that.

 

So my dearest older brother

lost his job and joined my mum,

serving ale to vulgar lowlifes,

taking money from the Scum.

 

Despite all this, there was no money

nor was there food upon our plates

So Mum told me "Nell, you're twelve now,

so you should start pulling your weight."

 

I didn't want to do this,

But I really had no choice,

And the Lord Mayor offered me a job

In a most remarkable place.

 

My job was very dangerous and I'm sure it was a crime,

to send a little girl into The Lilac Mine.

 

The Mine was cold and slippery,

not to mention rather dark,

But I had to hold the lanterns,

for the Miners' while they worked.

 

And you might call me crazy,

But I know what I heard,

A gypsy band was singing

Which I know sounds quite absurd,

 

So I tried not to dwell on it,

Because I had to work,

But I was sure that I'd heard songs

Similar to those before...

 

One night, I hid behind a pile

of coal and waited 'til

all the Miners had gone home

and I was sat in the darkness still.

 

I ventured down the darkest parts

of the Lilac Mine,

I could hear the songs and smell the scents

of meat and scotch and wine.

 

This is where my life began to disintegrate to dust,

I don't wish to continue, but really I must.

 

At the bottom of the mine, I found

A cold, colossal cave

Inhabited by people who looked like

A mauve parade.

 

Dozens upon dozens of them jumping around and whooping,

purple clothes and purple hair

They saw me and started smiling.

 

"Join us, little blonde girl,

come and eat some human scraps,

Boiled leg or skewered neck?

Perhaps some belly fat?"

 

I stupidly joined them for dinner,

which was absolutely strange,

for we were eating human brains

and the Purples were deranged.

 

The leader was a sprightly man,

They called him Olly Plum.

He sang the songs and played guitar

and was loved by everyone.

 

The others were his brothers

and his multitude of wives,

but his daughter Violet reminded me

of an old friend of mine.

 

One summer, when I was seven,

I knew a girl called Sally.

We were close companions

'til they found her dead in an alley.

 

The thing about Violet was

not that she was kind,

although she was, and funny and crazy,

but she acted like a child.

 

She danced when her father sang,

and her brothers played the drums,

Her family adored her,

but none more than Olly Plum.

 

Although I loved their music,

I was a little scared.

What if they wanted to eat me?

Oh well. No-one would have cared.

 

I sang with them until Midnight,

by which time I was very tired

I'd hoped my Mum would be sleeping,

but she was waiting by the fire.

 

"Where the hell have you been?!

I've been worried sick!"

"I'm sorry Mum, I just got lost,

took a wrong turn into a ditch!"

 

"That'll explain the state of you. Off you go to bed!

Be sure to come home early tomorrow or trust me, you'll be dead!"

 

I knew my Mum was angry,

but I couldn't have cared less,

because I knew the Purples

would have caused me less distress.

 

I decided I would live with them,

and play their music too.

In hindsight, it was stupid and I'm sure

You think it was too.

 

I went to work and returned to the cave

on the day I turned Thirteen.

I asked to join their band

and Violet gave me a tambourine.

 

"We'll be just like sisters," she whispered to me that night.

But as she came close, I saw in her eyes, something which gave me a fright.

 

The Purples' eye were purple too!

And that's what made me scared.

If I stayed here and my eyes turned mauve,

would my vision be impaired?

 

Apparently not. You see, I asked

 Olly Plum, who said,

that the colour of their eyes

was nought to do with their homestead.

 

"Purple" was a curse of hate,

the townsfolk were to blame.

They chased them into The Lilac Mine

to the Purples' utter shame.

 

"Why Purple, though?" I asked him.

And he answered: it's what becomes

of us people, who are pelted with

the stones and pulp of plums!

 

I took his word for gospel,

and lived happily with his crew...

But one day, I saw in my reflection

that my eyes were purple too!

 

"What is this?!" I cried. "What's happened to me?

I've caught the Purple Curse!"

"Relax," said Violet, "Your eyes are purple,

your life could be much worse!"

 

She couldn't have been more right, you see,

For things began to change.

We'd eaten lots of townsfolk,

so the Mayor had a Search arranged!

 

One night at eleven,

Us Purples tried to be quiet,

but one person who could not sit still

was my darling Best Friend, Violet.

 

She stood up and danced and we begged her to stop

But her feet and arms kept going.

Then, the search party found us all

And the next moment: we were screaming.

 

The Townsfolk were ruthless and hit the Purples'

on their heads.

I begged a Gentleman to stop,

but he arrested me instead!

 

My brother Clown, restored to sanity

Bought me from my cell.

I was relieved, but then he told me

that the Purples were condemned to hell.

 

At their execution, The Magistrate roared:

"These cannibals now shall  hang!"

 But I screamed and I cried and I yelled at him:

"YOU MONSTER OF A MAN!"

 

The first to meet the gallows

Was my darling Violet, who smiled.

"Don't worry, dear Nell. We're both going to hell,

so we'll only be apart for a while!"

 

The rope met her neck and the townsfolk rejoiced

that this monster would soon be dead.

A masked man pulled the leaver and the whole world could hear

the "snap" which had broken her neck.

 

I live with my mother, and whenever she hits me

I can hear poor Violet's neck snap.

They have closed Lilac Mine, but whenever I see it,

Part of me wants to go back.

 

 

 

Author's Note

Really rough draft.