She sat on the deck of the Esmeraldas<\/i> playing chess with the cabin boy<\/p>\n
But lost every game<\/p>\n
He knew of her heart of glass<\/p>\n
And read her every move<\/p>\n
His name was Sante Geronimo Caserio<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The week before we had been in Italy<\/p>\n
Visiting the quarries at Carrara<\/p>\n
As I was a sculptor<\/p>\n
Seeking inspiration<\/p>\n
Marble what marble? <\/i><\/p>\n
She said as we toured the quarry<\/p>\n
They are all anarchists like you <\/i><\/p>\n
My dress has become soiled by the dusts of this hideous quarry <\/i><\/p>\n
And my eyes are smarting in the afternoon breeze <\/i><\/p>\n
The air is unclean \u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n
Let us leave this wretched place <\/i><\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n
I did return to Carrara a week later<\/p>\n
To watch the marble being quarried<\/p>\n
During my time there I also met fellow anarchists<\/p>\n
Who were plotting insurrection<\/p>\n
I advised them that a bullet or a dagger<\/p>\n
In the right place<\/p>\n
Could change everything<\/p>\n
Power is confined<\/p>\n
To a few men<\/p>\n
And if these men are assassinated<\/p>\n
Then the mould is broken<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Whilst I was away Martha visited the Duomo di Carrara<\/i><\/p>\n
She had stolen one of my working tools<\/p>\n
And had attacked the fa\u00e7ade of the cathedral<\/p>\n
She had been arrested<\/p>\n
But did not release my name<\/p>\n
I found her in jail and paid her fines<\/p>\n
But we were still banished from the country of my birth<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Sail this ship into Tilbury <\/i><\/p>\n
The queen awaits us there <\/i><\/p>\n
We shall kidnap her and hold her country to ransom <\/i><\/p>\n
But I will not complete this task <\/i><\/p>\n
As my heart is made of glass<\/i><\/p>\n
And shatters easily <\/i><\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n
Martha was speaking to the cabin boy in hushed tones<\/p>\n
In her velvet purse<\/p>\n
She had hidden the toe of one of the saints<\/p>\n
It had been stolen from a church in Rome<\/p>\n
The cabin boy looked at the withered toe<\/p>\n
And threw it into the sea<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Seqa Seqa <\/i><\/p>\n
Cried a seabird as it passed overhead<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The cry of the seabird had been a warning<\/p>\n
For within hours we had run into a violent storm<\/p>\n
Our ship died on the rocks of an isolated island<\/p>\n
And only Martha and the cabin boy survived<\/p>\n
I clung to a piece of wreckage<\/p>\n
For four years and forty days<\/p>\n
Before I was rescued by a passing ship<\/p>\n
I found my way to Bristol<\/p>\n
And told my story to a stranger in an inn<\/p>\n
He did not believe me<\/p>\n
But wrote a book<\/p>\n
Detailing my adventures<\/p>\n
I believe it sold well<\/p>\n
But it did not make my fortune<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
No trace was ever found of the island where the Esmeraldas <\/i>sank<\/p>\n
But it is there as I saw it with my own eyes<\/p>\n
I know that Martha and the cabin boy survived<\/p>\n
As once a year I received a letter from them<\/p>\n
Posted in a bottle<\/p>\n
They are plotting revolution on the pristine beaches of their pink paradise<\/p>\n
I inform the authorities<\/p>\n
But they think me mad<\/p>\n
Soiled by my ordeal<\/p>\n
Which suits me<\/p>\n
They leave me alone to sculpt the soft marble<\/p>\n
From the quarries of Carrara<\/p>\n
I sculpt the likenesses of dead anarchists<\/p>\n
Which I sell in Bristol Town<\/p>\n
Nobody suspects me<\/p>\n
I am almost invisible<\/p>\n
At the moment I am just a sleeping snake<\/p>\n
But Martha and the cabin boy<\/p>\n
Will awaken this serpent<\/p>\n
And I will change history<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
She sat on the deck of the Esmeraldas playing chess with the cabin boy But lost every game He knew of her heart of glass And read her every move His name was Sante Geronimo Caserio The week before we had been in Italy Visiting the quarries at Carrara As I was a sculptor […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3648"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3648"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3648\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}