“Cento: From Nellie Bly, ‘Ten Days in a Mad-House’ 1887”

Amy Small-McKinney created “Cento: From Nellie Bly, ‘Ten Days in a Mad-House’ 1887” from an article by Nellie Bly (1887). Please click here to read.

About the poem and the process of composing it, Amy Small-McKinney writes:

I have always been interested in investigative reporting, especially the early pioneers. I found an online site about the journalist Nellie Bly, filled with quotations and selections from many of her articles. Bly was asked by her editor at The World to enter Blackwell’s Island Insane Asylum, and she agreed. This exposé was titled “Ten Days in a Mad-House.” Because of her writing and her exposure of the cruelty, she said, “The City of New York has appropriated $1,000,000 more per annum than ever before for the care of the insane.”

Every line, including the title, comes from Bly’s article. A few times I removed or moved around some of her words and occasionally changed punctuation or grammar for clarity. I wanted Bly to speak, to hear her voice. I am told this is a cento—my first attempt.