The Door Shut Tightly

The Door Shut Tightly

She was a woman of conviction and a woman of great strength,
the worm had turned forever and she’d go to any length.
Not just the little woman whose place was by the sink,
her vision was now clearer and no longer to hoodwink.

She joined her sisters readily to spread the word to all,
the disrespect and ridicule was destined for a fall.
For her voice would be regarded not just pushed aside again,
the time had come for standing against the many men.

She had never courted trouble or conflict with the law,
but now a modern woman who required from life far more.
Her heritage was working class a fine lass from the mill,
hard working and dependable but a woman with great will.

She meet with all the leaders of the women’s suffragette,
and vowed to take her rightful place with more purpose than regret.
On the marches she would carry her banner with such pride,
belief in justness was her dream and right was on her side.

The arrogance found in parliament was certain for a fight,
their opponents were approaching to battle for their right.
Gentle warm persuasion had been meet with much disdain,
so no longer would they reason now it was time to break the chain.

As the sisters upped the anti with rebellion and unrest,
the courts would judged them harshly in order to oppress.
The government was unswerving so the sisters turned to crime,
many were then sentenced then imprisoned serving time.

Our sister from the cotton mill knocked off a policeman’s hat,
arrested and in Holloway the judge had seen to that.
Humiliation of the prison cell would never break her will,
for the war of inequality and the need to pass the bill.

Each night the door shut tightly and she’d served another day,
the war for women carried on amassing on the way.
Many women were confined for crimes across the board,
but the sisters of the suffragettes could no longer be ignored.

One hundred years have passed since then but the memory carries on
as the sisters of the suffragette amended what was wrong.
Votes for women was their quest and they fought for what just,
they pledged allegiance to the cause and in each other they did trust.

I wonder about the factory lass, who followed her belief,
both steadfast and most resolute despite her times of grief.
She had no aristocracy or means to call her own,
but what she had was tenacious drive in every single bone.

So raise your glass and give good cheer to every suffragette
you have the vote and choice to make and to them we have a debt.
A hundred years has been and gone and the times we know have changed,
just think about suffragettes and why they all campaigned.

Teresa Harrison-Best