She began her work in the Famine years
Spent almost a century as a fighter.
Made bowls of steaming broth for the starving
children of Ireland, gave out knitting wool,
and taught girls to knit warm scarves and mittens
in Dublin, eighteen forty six.
Then Cork and Cobh and the Curragh, Kildare.
All of them were British Army barracks.
Where local girls and women were inspected
for signs of infection, whether a sex worker or not. Turned them inside out and
locked them up. Anna Haslam fought hard
to change the blame.
An early suffragette. She lived to see
a new day in Ireland, and votes for women.