Murder in Falaise, 1386

20 May 2012

Murder in Falaise, 1386

The sow was insane
doing what she did
to the little girl
while six piglets
stood by her side.

Given a public defender
the pig was dressed
in man’s clothes
and escorted
to the courthouse.

Witness after witness
described the horror
in which the animal
tore into the child
for no good reason.

In her defense
the accused cried
on the witness stand
as her six piglets
suckled away.

Quick justice found
the defendant guilty
sentenced to hang
in the city square
on the taxpayer’s dime.

may two thousand twelve
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Based on a true story.
For more information google “1386 pig hanging”

Posted in Animals, History, Poetry and tagged absurdity, pigs, poem, poetry

14 thoughts on “Murder in Falaise, 1386”

dfb on May 21, 2012 at 3:04 am said:

Fabulous! One of my favourite periods in history.

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- J Matthew Waters on May 21, 2012 at 5:39 pm said:
  
  thanks, and thanks so much for the tweet, too
  
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cyberbonn on May 21, 2012 at 9:34 am said:

You’ve been nominated! Please follow link for more info: http://cyberbonn.wordpress.com/2012/05/21/nomination/ 🙂

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Eve Redwater on May 21, 2012 at 5:34 pm said:

Pretty brutal, but you’ve told this really well! Excellent stuff!

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- J Matthew Waters on May 21, 2012 at 5:41 pm said:
  
  Thanks, Eve. Poem was a challenge for sure. Wrote this one for my daughter who is currently studying the middle ages. 🙂
  
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  - Eve Redwater on May 21, 2012 at 6:04 pm said:
    
    That’s awesome!
Honfleurthenandnow on September 18, 2012 at 4:00 pm said:

That is a new story to me, thank you! The beautiful chateau at Falaise has many stories, but this one changed everything…
http://honfleurthenandnow.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/harlette-de-falaise-or-was-that-harlot.html

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- J Matthew Waters on September 18, 2012 at 6:03 pm said:
  
  thanks for commenting on the poem and leaving the link to the wonderful story…cheers
  
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archiearchive FCD on July 17, 2013 at 9:09 pm said:

I have always found this tale a little off-putting. And being a person of little soul, I am left wondering if there was a BBQ to follow.

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- j matthew waters on July 17, 2013 at 9:13 pm said:
  
  that is a legitimate question, indeed. my daughter brought this tale to my attention a short time before I wrote the poem. très bizarre, as the french say 😀
  
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Pleasant Street on December 6, 2015 at 2:17 pm said:

Interesting. I never heard this story before. If there wasn’t so much documentation I would call BS, that it was just a hoax

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- j matthew waters on December 6, 2015 at 2:20 pm said:
  
  I would have to agree with your assessment!
  
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mentalnotes1 on May 23, 2022 at 7:58 pm said:

Oh my!

This has left me filled with emotion, which means your job has been done as a writer!

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- j matthew waters on May 23, 2022 at 8:00 pm said:
  
  Thank you very much, friend.
  
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