Jessie B. Rittenhouse, ed. (1869–1948). The Little Book of Modern Verse. 1917.
Theodosia Garrison
Stains
T
Spake each to one another,
“Whence came that stain about your mouth
No lifted hand may cover?”
“From eating of forbidden fruit,
Brother, my brother.”
Spake each to one another,
“Whence came that red burn on your foot
No dust nor ash may cover?”
“I stamped a neighbor’s hearth-flame out,
Brother, my brother.”
Spake each to one another,
“Whence came that blood upon your hand
No other hand may cover?”
“From breaking of a woman’s heart,
Brother, my brother.”
Glutton and Thief and Lover;
White flesh and fair it hid our stains
That no man might discover.”
“Naked the soul goes up to God,
Brother, my brother.”