Bonnie and Clyde Wrote Poetry, And It’s Going Up for Auction

At a time when Americans were mired in the Great Depression and poverty was rampant, the country found a little comfort in the crime spree of Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker, a romantic couple who spent close to two years robbing banks before being gunned down in their car by authorities in Louisiana in 1934. The movie dramatization of their exploits, 1967's Bonnie and Clyde, only added to their legend.

In addition to his skills as an armed robber, Barrow also had some artistic talents, it seems. As The Guardian reports, an upcoming auction will feature a notebook containing several poems that he appears to have written during his days as an outlaw.

The notebook, which is being offered for sale by Heritage Auctions, was presented by Barrow’s nephew and once belonged to Barrow’s sister, the late Nell May Barrow. Inside is a four-page poem believed to have been composed by Barrow.

A portion of it reads:

Bonnie s Just Written a poem / the Story of Bonnie & Clyde. So / I will try my hand at Poetry / With her riding by my side.

Barrow’s verse continues:

We donte want to hurt anney one / but we have to Steal to eat. / and if it’s a shoot out to / to live that’s the way it / will have to bee

The notebook also includes a poem by Parker that was stuffed in an envelope and was published in earlier biographies of the pair. Bidding starts on April 15, and Heritage plans to auction the notebook on May 4.