I came up with this poem within about five minutes whilst watching a programme on TV one Saturday night and when writing it all the things I learnt in English literature when analysing poems at school came back to me.

I quite like this poem, for those who haven’t guessed it’s about the burning of innocent women who were found to be ‘witches’ in the 16th and 17th century.

The title is ambiguous; it can be read as my stake as it is written or mistake.
‘My stake’ meaning that the accused woman knew that the stake was for her and ‘Mistake’ meaning that the killing of women who were accused of witchcraft was wrong, they were not witches.

‘In the village for all to see.’ – Burnings, or any type of killing was common and a past time for many folk.
‘The guilty woman’s’ and ‘The innocent woman’s’ – This is a good contrast, to the villagers, the woman is guilty, but in reality she is innocent.
‘Fearful air travels through her neck’ – This means the woman is breathing.
‘An important lesson a woman must learn.’ – In other words, women will have to tread carefully, not to do anything suspicious, or she too will be on the stake.