On the Gothic trip

This was written soon after the ending of the Gothic exhibition at the British Library, in January 2015, much inspired by a poem by colleague Petonelle Archer, and a note to do with Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

On the Gothic Trip

Megan, on the Gothic trip,

Was captivated by a slip

Of paper bearing words in blue,

Words she recognised and knew

Related strongly to the text

She would be teaching Year 8 next.

The paper held her, quite engrossed her,

And then a book, and then a poster

(Year 8 were running round the place).

Glancing at her watch’s face

Megan saw they had to go

And meet the coach to school, and so

She gathered all the children round

And counted heads, and then she found

Her colleague on the trip, named Grace,

Had gone. They searched, but found no trace.

Some Gothic awfulness was feared -

The teacher had just disappeared.

Megan ran around distracted.

The SENCO said that this impacted

Detrimentally on the students.

With professional speed and prudence,

Her Head put ink to paper thus:

Dear Megan, after all this fuss

We cannot have you teaching here.

So ended Megan’s school career.

Speaking at the coroner’s court

Megan said ‘I saw – I thought -

A smile on Dr Jekyll’s face,

In that weird photo … in that place …

I think…’ And now she can’t remember

Anything of that November

Day she left poor Grace behind

And lost her friend, her job, her mind.