The dissections,
vivisections and even a little body snatching
stolen in the night
though seldom did Charles Estienne
snatch a body thanks
to the constant supply of criminals
in the 1530’s the stench of a rapidly
decomposing corpse
needed more than a splash of lavender water
and it is with gratitude France made good
use the gallows.
I wouldn’t like to think it was a woman
of the street, a petty thief struggling
her whole life
although by the time Charles Estienne
laid her dear dead body bare
decency didn’t come into it. After all,
a discovery is a discovery.
After careful examination
it was drawn and labelled in a woodcut
of a female nude pleasingly
displaying her genitalia
but the function of the discovery, the amazing
clitoris was explained
as something to do with the
urinary system. A shame to think
the same mistake is made by men today.