PIETA

By Evelyn Scott

The child —

Warm chubby thighs,

Fat brown arms,

An unsurprised face —

Cries for jam.

The mother buys him with jam.

An old woman,

Tottering on lean leather skinned legs,

Sucks with glazing eyes

The crystal silken milk

That flows from the death wound

In a young flower-soft, jewel-soft body.