Writer's Corner - The Mystery of Lizzie Bordeen

The Mystery of Lizzie Borden

One grim hot August day,
In a house locked within and without,
A blade rained blood, crushing bone and brain.
Striking 19 times, the stepmother was dead by a bed.
Father's eye was cut in half,
Where he had laid a tired head.
Shock and dismay echoed through voices of the day.
How did it happen? Who could have done it?
No one saw -- no one heard -- a thing.
The maid was washing windows outside.
Alone in the house, Lizzie ironed and ate pears --
Except when she went to the barn for lead,
And came in and found her father dead.
Bloody flowers on the floor,
Pear-shaped drops on the wall.
Old man warm, old lady cold.
Did the killer hide?
Who so reckless, so bold?
And why is Lizzie so calm, quiet, and clean?
She heard a groan.
Abby went out on a note.
While the ladies fanned Lizzie's face,
There was a cry from the front stairs.
Abby never left the house.
The crime began over an hour ago.
Murmers and whispers that would never end --
Gave birth to the Lizzie Borden legend:
That the stepmother she could not abide --
Was how Lizzie Borden became an icon of parricide.
Father had the money and would know,
So he too had to go.
One person was there to do them both.
But no blood was on Lizzie's wardrobe.
After the search, someone saw her burn a dress.
Soon after, Lizzie was under arrest.
I know I am innocent and will bear this duress.
Lizzie, when did you last see your mother alive?
When she went up to the guest room.
I saw her making the bed as I passed by.
I took up laundry and saw the door closed.
Where she was, I'm sure I don't know.
I know where I was.
What could occupy Abby that morning?
The sewing machine was in the guest room.
Did you hear the machine?
No.
Could Abby have gone to her room without your knowledge?
I addressed envelopes in the sitting room.
I was in the cellar for five or ten minutes.
Did your mother leave the house?
No.
Did your mother leave the house?
She said she had a note.
Where were you when your father came home?
In the kitchen, on the stairs, in the kitchen.
Maggie let him in, and then she was upstairs.
Maggie washed windows inside?
I never saw her.
She was in one room, and I in another.
Father laid down to nap, while I looked for a sinker in the barn.
I looked at the pigeon house and picked up some pears.
No one came to the house.
I heard a scraping sound and saw the door wide open.
Father's face was bloody.
I sounded the alarm:
Maggie, come down.
Someone came in and killed him.
No bloody weapon was found.
Maggie upstairs heard no sound.
The killer came and disappeared.
One night Lizzie saw a phantom run around the house --
Out of sight into the night.
No one ever looked more guilty than Lizzie because of where she was.
But where was the blood of her deed?
Unless in the pail in the cellar --
Which Dr. Bowen explained,
Was her monthly sickness.
He was fast on the scene,
A reliable witness.
The jury found Lizzie not guilty.
A young girl cannot hang.
Her ring on her father's finger is love.
An axe in her hand is impossible.
Cold butchery so horrible cannot be the act of a Christian daughter.
Perplexing crime of the century goes unsolved.
While Lizzie Borden was absolved.
Sweetly innocent spooky gaze,
Dreamy pale blue-eyed haze.
Blind, deaf, muted truth buried in graves,
Of headless bodies --
Debris of rage.
While Lizzie Borden --
Stoic, silent, concealed --
Entertains in a mansion on the hill.