The Dead Baby, William Carlos Williams

 

Sweep the house
under the feet of the curious
holiday seekers —
sweep under the table and the bed
the baby is dead —

The mother's eyes where she sits
by the window, unconsoled —
have purple bags under them
the father —
tall, wellspoken, pitiful
is the abler of these two —

Sweep the house clean
here is one who has gone up
(though problematically)
to heaven, blindly
by force of the facts —
a clean sweep
is one way of expressing it —

Hurry up! any minute
they will be bringing it
from the hospital —
a white model of our lives
a curiosity —
surrounded by fresh flowers


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