William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. (1878–1962). Anthology of Magazine Verse for 1920.
Sekhmet the Lion-Headed
I
Near me something was purring.
And norths and souths:
They suckle my girl-goddess breasts,
And my fierce milk drips from their mouths.
But between my soft hands they die.
How long shall warring be?
Warring shall cease!
My God of love is greater far
Than you!
He Whom they called the Prince of Peace—
And slew?—
And slew again—and yet again?—
Ah, yes!—she said.
The night grew laughing-red:
Sekhmet I did not see
But in that bleeding dusk I heard
That Sekhmet purred.