To The Memory of MAGGIE CORDWAIN

departed this sphere in childbirth
February 29, 1787 in her forty-third year R.I.P.

She waited for a sign
That he allowed her eyes
And breasts were more
Than motherly.
He shuddered to think thighs
Defiled the Grand Design
And talked her
Into dying late
With child.

They straightened out her legs
And crossed her arms.
They let the earth
And roots
Hump forth
Her pregnancy.

And we wonder how the young
Can wax so wild
And pluck the golden apples
Casually.

Max Cordonnier
Composed in the late 60's