Charlotte Mew

I've often tried to find the grave of Charlotte Mew, who is buried in Hampstead cemetery, where I walk my dog every day.  I have finally found her. She was lying down (her tombstone has collapsed).  Her life was a sad one.  Many of her poems are about death..  She wrote often from a masculine point of view, but her style is entirely her own.   Go here for full gen.

So, anyway, I've written a poem to mark the occasion.  Thought I might post it.  I write very few poems at the moment, so...

FINDING CHARLOTTE

So with a smile he overstepped the grave

I’ve been looking for you, Charlotte Mew,

For quite a while, and now I’ve found you

I’ll return with a book one bright day

And, being dead, you’ll not turn away.

I’ve stepped over you a dozen times

Map marked for an outstanding stone.

Wasn’t ready for collapse, the lone

Prone unmarker among upright lines.

I shall stand above you in the rain

And I’ll watch your dull limestone sheening

I shall stand above you in the sun

While the damned parakeets are keening,

Now I’ve found you, Charlotte Mew.

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Wynn Wheldon