The Rajah Quilt - Jennifer Chrystie

Sewn by convict women aboard the Rajah, 1841

Truly this ship is a seahorse
bucking and straining
Again I prick my finger
blood speckling the appliquéd flowers

So dim below decks
and we Pentonville women so weak
only porridge in our bellies
we sometimes sew patches back to front

One hundred days from Woolwich
five from Van Diemen's Land
We've nearly finished our task
just enough silk to embroider

the inscription to the ladies
of the Convict Ship Committee
who farewelled us with hessian bags
of needles, thread and scraps

Make something of yourselves
Make something for posterity
Some of us, old hands at needlecraft
help others to inch the cloth

a chessboard of textures
something solid to hang onto
in this lonely turmoil
of sky and sea

Our teacher has caught the eye
of the captain but we drabs can only
stitch our hope and our sorrow into this quilt
and know not whose bed it will cover