Death Knell

Reading prison, a poem about it's closure. Oscar Wilde was once imprisoned there.

So Reading Gaol has now called time

and jangled keys no longer hold

bad men, condemned to barren cells.

Some gruesome crimes made blood run cold.

Long corridors still hear the sighs

of ghosts unready for goodbyes.

Confined behind high barricades,

they served their sentence, debt repaid,

but fiends who slayed with blades or hands

were deemed too wicked to be saved.

Imposed on them black cap means death,

a tightened noose, steals strangled breath.

And Oscar's torment, prison hell,

of misery and wretched woe

from France in exile, where he penned

of inmates there, not friend or foe

but humans off the beaten path

who lost all reason, stoked by wrath.

What now becomes of empty cells?

What future use for walls so steeped,

they ooze with all the grief they've reaped?

Reviews

[John the Baptist]

Very nicely rhymed, with imagery that brings a chill. The old style penal systems were definitely slanted toward punishment, rather than correction. And poor Wilde was there simply for being gay. Of course, in the US currently we have people doing hard time for marijuana offenses, which to me is like sending people to prison for alcohol offenses during prohibition.

[Chris Shaw]

Yes, Reading Gaol, famous for incarcerating Oscar Wilde because he was a homosexual. Your situation over there for marijuana offences, sucks too. I agree with you entirely. Alcohol is far more dangerous. Those old prisons ghastly places, in fact little has changed today. Many thanks for your thoughtful review.

Chris

[Lyn Anderson]

Very nicely done. I love how you often tell a story about something we maybe didn't know before in a unique way. You and Neville are very much kindred spirits in that sense.

[Chris Shaw]

Many thanks Lyn. Happy you enjoyed the read, happier still to be put in the same sentence as Neville. I am a great admirer of his words and thinking.

Chris

[BBP]

I really enjoyed the story you tell here. The visuals were spot on... you had me roaming the halls of the abandoned prison.

[Chris Shaw]

Many thanks for confirming that enjoyment. Hope the ghosts didn't spook you too much.

Chris

[BBP]

Never! They make things too interesting. :)

[Gypsy Warrior Queen]

Your poetry is always so fascinating Chris! Prison such a hard issues to write about but you do it well! Ty for the share!

[Chris Shaw]

Thank you CQ. I wouldn't normally write about prison. I was more fascinated because it was closing down and its history was well known. Pleased you enjoyed the read.

Chris

[emmajoy]

Amazing how the word 'prison' is more often or not ignored til there's a fight inside one, prisioners stand on rooftops demanding their rights, or, as nowadays there's mention of drones flying in the night.or intimidating body searches of all kinds by staff or fellow inmates.

Elsewise it takes fine poetry like yours to remind people that once upon a time, prisons were hell.holes where the cruellest of sentences were carried out but, not necessarily in the so.called courts. Now of course, in many of our prisons, cells might include book.shelves, tvs.. and the right to phone home... how things change in less than two hundred years! Accommodation far better than many have outside, sleeping in doorways, or under bridges. Find it hard to equate an open and generous concience to that, especially on Sundays. The mention of Reading Gaol is synonymous with Lord Byron and now of course, in the main, that's been gradually softened or ignore by society.

Your words educate, remind, say how it was. Wonder if in the future, over the same time, the pendulum will swing the other way? You, Chris, have a way of making the reader, think, weigh, find different emotions in a post. It's subtle but needed and done so very well. Tis a pleasure to read you, really mean that. Forgive my blather, please. Perhaps like cotton mills, mines et al, the prison will become a visitors' centre..

[Chris Shaw]

Thanks Em for your thoughtful response. The whole subject of prisons throws much into the cooking pot to contemplate. The history of those places is chilling and still is in prisons throughout the world. Our prisons may seem a soft touch by comparison, but the boredom must drive the inmates insane. I do believe the prison may become an arts centre in the future. There is much talk about it.

Chris

[Lorry]

Nicely nicely Chris, on such a controversial subject. Maybe taken out of circulation for not being up to the five star prison standard of today, or perhaps we should hang them all and be done with them. No one seems to sit on the fence on this subject, so im,all alone here for once. On one hand, rehabilitation should be offered, but not if they keep coming back. One countries solution is anothers barbarity.
We sent prisoners to and oz as a punishment, yet we pay to go on holiday. Hmmm!
Death should be for only the iredeemable, who are beyonf daving and beyond punishment. But the trouble is, everyone has an opinion but they cant all be right.
I like the flourishes you add to your writing, throwing in history lessons for free. Did not know Oscar was a guest. What is it with celebrities always causing trouble and up to no good :)

[Chris Shaw]

Hi Lorry, I've got your brain cells ticking over nicely on this one haven't I? This poem certainly covers a multitude of topics for discussion. A bit of history for added measure. Why was it closed? Shouldn't have been. It was for young offenders who now go to prisons up the other end of the country. Stupid decision especially as there is so much overcrowding. What's going to happen to it? Gawd knows. Talk of it becoming an arts centre, especially because of the links to Oscar Wilde and his famous ballade written while he was incarcerated. Five years down the track and nuffinks 'append.:)

Chris

[Lorry]

Typical. I bet there's a bloody commitee involved :)

[Chris Shaw]

There always is innit.

[Jon Roggie]

Another empty room,
cold to visit.
Interesting write.

[Chris Shaw]

Thank you John. Yes empty cells full of ghosts. Hope all is OK with you.

Chris

[PatrickPink]

You've used some fantastic phrasing here, the last line being really powerful. Dark, potent, and evocative!

[Chris Shaw]

Thank you for reviewing.

Chris

[duck]

fantastic write on the darkness of the cell. deep and heavy poetry you have here and well writen.

[Chris Shaw]

Prisons are deep and dark duck. Especially this old Victorian one standing near the centre of Reading, so imposing and yet now empty. Only the ghosts roam there now. Thank you for your review.

Chris

[Jade]

Deep intriguing write here, I enjoyed this

[Chris Shaw]

A different sort of poem for me Brandie Jade. I hope I gave you much to think about. Many thanks for your review.

Chris