Remember, remember – the fifth of November
Gunpowder, treason, and plot…
Damp November day
Barrels full of gunpowder
Change of government
Guy Fawkes laments his failure
Burns in place of Parliament
By DS Davidson
Guy Fawkes,
once flesh and blood…
then effigy of straw
mocked in rhyme…
now a mask frozen
in time.
By David Edwards
Flames of Westminster
By Cardinal Cox
Mercenary working for zealots’ pay
Simply a gun out for what he could earn
Ready to light a fuse and run away
Willing to see all unbelievers burn
Inquisition waiting to scour this land
Ignition to be a spark underground
All these things the evil cabal had planned
If gun powder barrels had not been found
William Godwin let Westminster catch fire
Guardsmen worked to save old dry vellum laws
Flames engulfed old chimneys and reach higher
Red wax seals melting – dripping on floors
Don’t celebrate Fawkes at this time of year
Instead give William Godwin’s name a cheer
Footnote: Late in the life of the anarchist William Godwin he was awarded an honorary position as Yeoman Usher of the Exchequer, which included grace and favour apartments in the Palace of Westminster. His duties included the overseeing the provision of fire buckets and the sweeping of chimneys. Both of which he neglected. On 16 October 1832, while he was out at the theatre, a fire broke out that destroyed the Palace. No lives were lost.
Revenge Night
By DJ Tyrer
Limbs stuffed with newspaper twitch
Irate at the end plotted for them
Not complicit in Guy Fawkes’s crimes
Object to ongoing annual punishment
Set forth into the streets
Not seeking pennies but revenge
Seize fireworks-throwers and drag them back
Throw them upon the pyre
Enjoy the fiery spectacle
Anger
By Aeronwy Dafies
Scarecrow climbs down from post
Outraged at treatment of city kin
Seeks gunpowder for act of vengeance
Builds a bonfire for the vanities
To consume the urban blight
View From Atlantis 