Lizzie Borden Society Forum

Some Questions for Lizzie


Oh Lizzie Borden, with your eyes of Grey
let me ask some questions, if I may
What were your thoughts on that fateful day

Was the Noisy Bird a singing
While Abby's braid went a flinging

Was it the Fiery heat that made you snap
Or the rotton Mutton, that tasted like crap

Was there a sheet of lead, in the barn
Or was that a web, you wove from yarn

When father did slumber upon the couch
Was there any pain, even an ouch

Did Uncle John with no Luggage to spare
Kill the Bordens, and then was paid his share

Did Bridget Purge because She was Queasy
Or was it Her hand in Murder, that came so easy

Was it Abby's note, that Bowen did Fire
Or something more sinister, He had to expire

Did Alice Russell with Her prune pursed mouth
Do all She could to send you South

Was there Corruption and Scandal
High up and Low down
That covered like a blanket, Your Fall River town

Did you Vapor over Trickerys Scoop
Everyone knew it was just a Dupe

Did you shake and shudder and face turn pale
When Knowlton did hound you with no avail

How did you react on Acquittal day
When the Cow stopped moowing
And the Foreman said Nay

Did you Shake or Faint, about the 25 Grand
When Jennings did place his bill in your Hand

Was Maplecroft your Castle to stay
Or did it ease the pain of another day

Did Sister Emma give you a nasty glance
And disapprove of that, that Harlet Nance

If I could go back to that particular Morn
Before the Murders, and all the Scorn
We could walk together, hand in hand
To Sargeants Store, the Sale would be Grand
There would be no Fingers pointing at You
And for once in your life
the Sky could be Blue

We Love You Lizzie

Matt Jones

I love it, Matt! You got a wonderful way with words!

That must have been so bad mutton to taste like cr.. I thought I would wet my pants with that line.

Keep up with your writing. I'd like to read some more. It look's like we are off and running...

Have you ever done any Lyric changing in popular songs? Lyrics in songs usually sound good when the song is playing but reading the lyrics on paper with no music can sometimes be a bit of a shock. I like to rewrite lyrics as a hobby. I've re-done, "When Will I see You Again", "What A Wonderful World" and a few others. I'm working on, "A Whiter Shade Of Pale", "Moon River" and "Love Letters" but I ran into a brick wall with, "The Sweetheart Tree." Remember that one from, "The Great Race?" It is such a beautiful little waltz but it is too short. I melted when I heard that one in '65 on the big screen.

I was in Sacramento years ago attending the jazz festival. There was a woman sitting at a table in front of me wearing a dowdy, frumpy house dress, her hair in a mess and wearing worn-out house slippers. The band leader asked her to come up and sing a song. I thought it had to be a joke. That woman got up there and in one of the most beautiful voices I ever heard, she blew the fool out of, "What A Wonderful World." She turned that song inside out like I had never seen done before! She didn't do all those "show-off" tricks that many singer use like holding a note for an hour and a half or the "up and down the scales" routine. She put her heart into that song and had tears in everyone's eyes. When she was done she sat down at her table and resumed her conversation with her friends like nothing had happened. It turned out she was the band leader's wife. She didn't have the throbbing vocal power of a Shirley Bassey or Judy Henske but good grief she was something. I nearly fell out of my chair.

I'll never forget her and what she did to that song!

Keep up with your writing, Matt!

-1bigsteve (o:

That was wonderful Matt!
Thank you!

Big Steve & Kat
Thanks for your Gracious words about my poem
I threw it together in about 30 minutes.
Of course it's not as refined or a sensitive as yours Big Steve.
I'm more of a Quick & silly sort of Wanna be Poet.
Big Steve on the other hand, You really captured the feelings and sensitivity of a serious Poet.

Big Steve & Kat
Have you ever done any reading or research on Annie Oakley ??
She is another interesting person to read up on.

You should consider submitting your work for publication in The Hatchet.

If your work is accepted you have options to apply the proceeds to your subscription.

I took some photos of JVM's Iowa home town and grave and was very pleased that they were accepted for publication and even happier to have received my first year's subscription to The Hathchet in lieu of payment for them. I have been paid subscriber ever since.

The Hatchet does have a wide variety of articles pertaining to Lizzie and Victorian times and other things of interest. Personally, I think that even if a person is only mildly interested in Lizzie it has a wide enough variety to be a worthy read-- of course if Lizzie is a passion of yours it is a must to read.

As an aside as well as a PS...

Some people were recipients of gift subscriptions for a year of the magazine and went ahead and bought their own the following year. It is just that good!

I like quick and silly poems! I enjoyed yours, Matt. You shoulda sent this one in to 'The Hatchet'. More! More!

I have some interest in Annie Oakley. It's unbelievable how she could shoot like she did. A & E did a fabulous biography on her I saw not long ago. It was neat to see photos of her in her later years.

I am into Custer and the old West some. Amelia Earhart. Lindbergh. Titanic. ... Tragedy/mystery stuff.

Matt, I truly enjoyed your poem. Keep up the good work, and thank you for sharing with us.

Thank you, Matt. I appreciate your kind words.

Recently I saw a very nice bio on Annie Oakley. She was something. I never knew anything about her. I got to looking very close at her using that rifle in those old films and I realized that there was no recoil. She must have been using .22's or a larger caliber with very light loads, probably just enough to get the bullet to the target. The lack of recoil would certainly help her concentration. There's nothing more distracting for a shooter than firing a gun that is trying to kick you under the table.

She really went after all those newspapers that slandered her. Good for her!

-1bigsteve (o:

That was fun, Matt, thanks for sharing it with us.