Elizabeth Stride (1843-1888)

Elizabeth stride, born with clear blue eyes open wide
Plays in fields of flowers red and white
Games of seek and hide
Papa never lets her from his sight
The cows and horses breed
Father plants the seed and visits late at night
She dreams of living in a world apart
Old enough to bleed
Human need, must find a human heart

Servant girl in town, belly swelling round
She sings a lullaby: Never will you know what you are worth
Stillborn child delivered from the crime of birth
East end lights, dosshouse hopes and queen's head nights soaked in gin
A broken piece of comb to please the gentlemen
A scrap of velvet rag, a metal spoon
The bounty of "sin"
Footsteps in the dark
A stalker or a mark follows her path
Wheezing in the soot-blackened air
Shrouded in the fog, he's standing there
She can feel him stare
Someone's there
She can feel him stare
He's standing there
She can feel him stare

Long liz stride, skirts spread against a scarlet cloud
Eyes open wide, her blood feeds the stones of dutfield's yard