The Scarlet Woman

I saw a woman dressed in a white robe,
With a pool of blood around her feet.
And the blood dripped
From her hem, from her sleeves,
Down her hands and slender fingers--
Blood-red upon delicate skin,
She cried aloud from the pit of her belly:
"Where, O Man, is my child?
You have killed me and the child within me!
You bear the judgement upon your soul!"

'Turn back the feet of those being led to the slaughter!'
The Haven is Broken.
There is no time to spare,
For the death-pile mounts--
Up to the heavens!
And Their Voices cry out
From the ground:
"Why did you kill me? You have taken my life at its dawn!"

Her blood-pool oozed wider and wider
Slowly swirled about her feet,
And cascaded off the stairs
In front of her.
A sheer edge---A precipce--
She leaned forward in horror
At what she had done--
Peering down an eternal stair,
Falling down to the depths.
"What Choice was this--
That they so blithely led me to?"

"Come now reason with Me,
Though your sins are like scarlet,
They shall be white as snow."
--A Voice calls the answer.