After
the War of a Hundred Years
Things
went well for Europe.
They
started to emerge from the darkness.
Then
the world changed.
Trade
with China made people rich
But
a problem soon arose.
The
merchants with goods and wares
Brought
rats with fleas and disease.
A
plague swept through Europe from the east.
Not
a single place was safe.
No
one could escape
Death’s
horrible black cloak
Or
his sharpened shining scythe.
The
bravest act a man saw
Was
a woman sewing herself into her own shroud.
Death
and destruction ran rampant through the streets.
Peasants
rioted and revolted.
“It’s
the end of the world!”
An
Italian would say.
Nothing
could be done.
Passion
plays were performed.
Self-abuse
inflicted.
People
blamed others.
They
blamed Jews.
Placing
them with heretics and witches.
People
went on pilgrimages
As
Chaucer’s Tales
Kept
them entertained
With
stories long ago.
The
plague continued to wreak havoc
In
the countries
Demolishing
old ways.
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