Where is that nursery window?
Cunliffe, Martha and Mary
threw Anne's writing-desk onto the lawn
after spitting in her workbag.

Is the table in the corner
the one that Anne tied her charges to
much to the chagrin of her employer?
Silence hovers in the room.

In the orchard and kitchen garden
I can sense the bones of moles and magpies
trapped and tortured by Master Cunliffe,
his form of pleasure.

 

Anne Brontë was governess to the Ingham family here in 1839, perhaps inspiring scenes of the Wellwood children in her novel Agnes Grey.