Ode To Victor Hugo (56) Poem by Freeyad Ibrahim

'The Miserable '
Fantine's Sadness

by Freeyad Ibrahim

Beautiful naïve Illiterate Fantine
Grew up in the street,
behind the life's screen
In Parise seduced by a playboy
He abandons her
Just needed her for joy
She entrusts her flesh and blood
To a crooked innkeeper
To feed her and to keep her
In order to work
She sends them money
The innkeeper demanding more payments
That Fantine cannot make
She loses her factory job
For lying about having a child
She sells her silky long hair
to a travelling merchant,
and her perfect two front teeth
that leads to a horrific scene
Fantine's face is often
Streaked with blood
She becomes ill
And works as a prostitute
She is no longer attractive
Doubly scorned for her sickly appearance.
Deathly ill, taken to the local hospital
She dies never seeing her beloved
Cossette again!

Freyad Hugo