no pitchfork or firebrands no angry villagers on foot
chasing a woman through the woods very few
dragged by their hair it was more calculated
deliberate than that intentional how many were killed:
60,000 80,000 burned hung beheaded
deformed drowned strangled banished
mostly women but some men unlucky enough to be innocent
there were laws evidence to gather did she use scissors and string
to see the future did she have a knack for healing
a midwife perhaps a cunning woman
then a lightless dungeon the slow watch & walk torture
days without sleep certainly stripped and shaved pricked
and the overt lie of reward for a confession name other witches
and save yourself maybe a clerk recorded her name in the official records
probably not though intelligent or not abrasive loud
not always ugly the hanging was required attendance even for children