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.