The Hanged Woman's Crown by Courtney Polidori

The Hanged Woman’s Crown:

A mother teaches her daughter about a constellation while in jail in Salem, 1692

On the eve of the hangings Corona Borealis shone down,

Nineteen stars bejeweled Ariadne’s crown.

One for each who’d swing from the gallows,

Ever after Salem’s hill would be hallowed.

Omen of death haunted midsummer sky,

Announced the witch hangings of 19 July.

Sarah Good, one accused, chose to die rather than lie,

In their jail cell, she kissed her little daughter goodbye.

“Women, as goddesses, must hold their heads high.”

She said with a sigh, “As Ariadne ended her life,

She chose to die rather than be enslaved as a wife.”

The hanged maiden kept vigil that night,

Stayed with the innocents until first light.

Omen of hope luminous in midsummer sky,

Soothing the prisoners to be hanged on 19 July.

In the morning mother was hanged, an inchworm swinging from a tree.

Before she died Sarah Good made her daughter promise to agree:

“My love, confess as a witch and you shall be free!”

The little girl Good grew tired and cold,

She’d lived only five years but felt a thousand years old.

She pondered the weighty decision all day,

Wished she knew a God to whom she could pray.

Soon after sunset Ariadne floated down,

Nineteen stars bejeweled her ethereal crown.

The hanged maiden kept the Good girl warm that night,

Stayed with the one who wanted to live until dawn light.

Summer nights see Corona Borealis shining down,

Nineteen stars bejeweling Ariadne’s crown.

One for each who’d swung from the gallows,

Ever after Salem’s hill would be hallowed.

Then, place of specters, place of sin,

Garden of Eve who invited the serpent in.

Now we fly to Salem for Samhain under the moon,

Twas never with the devil we sought to commune.

 Courtney Polidori (2010)