Destitution c1900

there they are
captured in sepia shades
outside a closed front door

a young mother evicted
from a damp terraced slum
a toddler in her arms and
her three year old son
staring into a camera lens

an indelible memory of
bewildered misery accompanies
two broken kitchen chairs an oil lamp
and a sack of old rags
left in the gutter

Horace Warner the photographer
teaches the present generation
the truth of hardship and
Victorian living

the east end of London
portrays poverty of the have nots
and the small boy what future
for him should he survive
childhood disease

a fair chance he found himself
in the trenches of the Somme
where he died fighting for
king and country in a land
so very far from home

Reviews

[Matthew Kult]

Sepulchral image, darkly poetic

Great read

With love

Matthew

[Chris Shaw]

Thank you so much Matthew. I appreciate your review.

Peace and love.

Chris

[Kaylor Mason]

This is true--it puts all the Sherlock Holmes stories in perspective. Holmes lived in the Victorian Empire; Conan Doyle's vision of it was accurate. This poem reminds me of that.

[Chris Shaw]

Tough times for sure and many complain about life today. Back then, it was bleak, with a capital B. Interesting to see those old photographs. Thank you kindly.

Chris

[Marvin Thomas Cox-Flynn..]

Chris

You are a most exquisite Poetess, one who speaks truth in such gentle fashion as to enrapture the tines of one's mind, heart, and very essence of being ...

I ram it down their throats, as they can listen, choke, or gloat ...

But, you, my dear lady, use you womanly wares of knowing how to spare thoughts of feelings and minds reeling that savage pain of reality, whilst, gently leading your readers to the very shores of sadly saddened reality ever gently along the way to that day when they shall soon see full blown Human Reality ... Learn from it, and embrace it as it is ... And, forevermore, wish and seek to change it for the future betterment of all Humanity's Mankind ...

A fact that so very few remaining Humans are aware of, is that World War I's War to end all Wars was the most heinously deadly travesty to ever befall all men as Man's Mankind, far worse in merciless destruction of Human Lives than, actually of factually was, even, World War II and the frightful introduction of Atomic Nukes ...

Here in America, schoolchildren are seldom made aware of the price that was paid by men just like them grown up to be men fighting in that so called War To End All Wars, in battlefields like that of The Somme, and Verdun, and other ghastly fields filled with the blood of good men on both sides of a war that each wanted the same for themselves and their families: To live! ... Each blindly loyal to King, Kaiser, and Country ...

I was lucky! ... I had Mr. Wall as a History teacher when I was a teen ... He taught in detail every visage's horror of all that World War I, in reality, was, and in such fervent presentation as to make that very first Holocaust that engulfed all Mankind to stand as Panoramic before one's very Mind's Eyes, in my taking and writing down notes of all that he shared and spoke, in shaping who I am today by that which he spoke as the finest Teacher I have ever been blissed as blessed to know ...

A sad write, indeed! ... but one which all the world's young people must need to hear and perceive: There is yet, more the possibilities of World War to come much more inhumane in bloodshed's butchery than was World War II, or, even World War I ...

Bravo, fine lady!

Marve

[Chris Shaw]

Apologies Marve for the late response to your review. Many thank yous for your kind comments and sharing your thoughts. I am pleased you enjoyed the read and it allowed you to travel in history. We must never forget the carnage of those wars where men were canon fodder. It beggars belief how cruel our species is. Pleased you have enjoyed some of my poetry efforts. All the best.

Chris

[Andrew John]

I find this very atmospheric, very moving - and have done so with quite a lot of your stuff; I try to get to as much of it as possible, though don't always have time to type a comment! :(

[Chris Shaw]

Andrew. your review lifts me. Thank you so much. Know you are appreciated.

Chris

[Dave]

Having taught U.S. history for many years you remind me that poverty is not unique to us. I found it most interesting that some of the more prominent photos of women with their children in abject squalor were taken by women, such as Dorthea Lang and Mary Ellen Marks.

Chris - take care - Dave

[Chris Shaw]

Old photographs are a great way to see things exactly as they were. No soft, fluffy touches in the Victorian photographs I looked at. Interesting to hear how women photographers in the USA captured similar scenes. Thank you for another review Dave. All the best.

Chris

[Dave]

Chris - I love the scope of things that find your interest.
Take care Dave

[Tom]

Jeepers indeed Chris, a frank, harrowing poetic write, a reminded to us all and in particular those of us who nowadays bemoan the rising cost of living, if we were transported back in time and in the shoes of the long gone folk who lived in and (some did not last( through rank poverty/destituition, then one really would have reason to complain!!

' Horace Warner .. Spitalfields Nippers, the pictures by which he is remembered and that establish his posthumous reputation as a photographer '

Intriguing, poignant to read my friend, would soften even the hardest heart!!

[Chris Shaw]

Many thanks Tom for your visit. Yes, those days certainly put things into perspective when it comes to inflation and the cost of living we are currently experiencing. Heartbreaking those evictions onto the streets and no doubt the workhouse followed. Have a great weekend.

Chris

[AYVID N]

Dear Chris,
You bring that destitution to life. A consummate picture of poverty I read from your words and its most heartrending. As a mother, myself, it was extremely painful to read of the small boy. The sorrow and pain is so palpable and as your reader, I am touched greatly. I hope that young mother found a better life but knowing of those cruel times, I have to doubt it. Kudos on this awesome poem!

[Chris Shaw]

Thank you dear DIVYA. Tough times indeed. The lives of so many were poverty stricken, and illness was rife. I appreciate your encouragement always. Have a beautiful weekend.

Chris

[Ken Simm.]

A true tribute to both the working class or poor people of this era and the brilliant photographer who told their story. Only for his own to end in the tragedy of nations. Along with the era he represented. An extraordinary use of words.

[Chris Shaw]

Many thanks for your visit Ken. His photographs of poor children are an amazing history lesson. Well worth a look. Have a great day.

Chris

[Ken Simm.]

I have looked many times Chris in the past. There were reminders there for me too.

[Lorry]

I think every working class area had their Horace Werner's Chris. Ours was Oscar Marzaroli and when I was younger I got given the chance to put a book of photographs called reminisces together when I worked in the Mitchell library.
It was fascinating to look back at 1000's of photographs chronicling the lives of our great grandparents onwards, through the lenses of so meny photographers that captured what it was really like to grow up in those times, in black and white, where the grubby cheeks of kids didn't know they were poor, because everybody was.
The starkness of soot covered tenements added to the deprivation and would may very well be a warning to the futures lung conditions that wasn't caused by cigarettes.
No one smiled in those pictures other than the kids, who knew no better that this would be their life.
And we have the cheek to complain when a draft intrudes and we have to walk all the way to the wall to turn up the central heating...unless you're really posh and you can do it through your phone.
Changed days indeed, and not all of its for the better.

[Chris Shaw]

Your review is fascinating Lorry. How wonderful for you to put that book of old photographs together. It is so interesting to see how our forebears lived. I mean there is poverty and poverty, and they certainly understood the meaning of it back in the early 1900,s. They didn’t even have shoes on their feet. My grandfather Albert won a scholarship to the Blue Coat school in Hammersmith. He couldn’t go because his parents couldn’t afford the uniform. Thanks for stopping by. Have a good Tuesday.

Chris

[Lorry]

There is a copy of it in the Mitchell, but his relatives refused to give us printing rights.... Like I'm sure they paid all the wee urchins they photographed! 😊

[Chris Shaw]

What a shame the printing rights were refused. Stuff like that needs to be seen to be believed.

[red93]

Brilliant Chris how you evoke the searing photo in words. Yes hardships in Britain 2023 are a long way from this hopefully. Excellent ✨️✨️✨️✨️✨️

[Chris Shaw]

Thank you Tony. You are right. Hardship back then was true hardship. Have a great day and thank you for your review.

Chris