Matred
After the medieval “Noah plays” of Chester, York and Towneley.
Noah’s wife is traditionally not named in religious texts.
The name Matred comes from a novel by Madeleine L’Engle.
It is known: a woman like that
brings evil on board.
Look at her, pushing forward, all shriek
and clinging skirts, ticking off
the ways Noah is getting it wrong.
Imagine, close quarters, a year at sea.
Shrew would work, for the galley
is full to bursting with such beasts.
Or nag. No, because what kind of man
abandons his mare, even one like her?
Goad, maybe. Short spear. Or say
she reported visions. Saw herself alone,
skin-soaked, and a flock of women
keening for a world gone under.
Leave out that Noah laughed
in her face before the deluge came.
How she knew he’d drag her
by rain-knotted hair
her protest
drowning in her throat.
Lucy Heuschen has appeared in The High Window, The Storms, Ink Sweat & Tears, Obsessed By Pipework, Lighthouse, Skylight 47 and several anthologies. The author of two previous chapbooks, Lucy’s debut collection will be published by Yaffle Press. www.lucyheuschen.co.uk.