Beside The Infant's Cradle Sits The Hearse Poem by Sheena Blackhall

When I was ten I thought that I was dying
Beside the infant's cradle sits the hearse
For blood seeped wet as roses through my skirt
Inside each woman lives God's deadly curse

I thought my life was ebbing, red, away
Beside the infant's cradle sits the hearse
I fled home from the school on terror's wings
Inside each woman lives God's deadly curse

She sat me down, my mother, cleaned me up
Beside the infant's cradle sits the hearse
You are a woman, now, and full of sin
Inside each woman lives God's deadly curse

Each month will bring you pain for forty years
Beside the infant's cradle sits the hearse
Because of Eve who so betrayed the world
Inside each woman lives God's deadly curse

You must not sit upon your father's knee
Beside the infant's cradle sits the hearse
No hugs, no kisses, that all stops from now
Inside each woman lives God's deadly curse

She told me Men can't help themselves, they're weak
Beside the infant's cradle sits the hearse
From now on, I must keep myself apart
Inside each woman lives God's deadly curse

Oh what a weary time to carry sin
Beside the infant's cradle sits the hearse
An entire gender destined for the bin
Inside each woman lives God's deadly curse