Upton Sinclair, ed. (1878–1968). rn The Cry for Justice: An Anthology of the Literature of Social Protest. 1915.

Sisterhood

Mary Craig Sinclair

(Contemporary American writer)

LAST night I woke, and in my tranquil bed

I lay, and thanked my God with fervent prayer

That I had food and warmth, a cosy chair

Beside a jolly fire, and roses red

To give my room a touch of light and grace.

And I thanked God, oh thanked Him! that my face

Was beautiful, that it was fair to men:

I thought awhile, then thanked my God again.

For yesterday, on Broadway I had walked,

And I had stopped to watch them as they stalked

Their prey; and I was glad I had no sons

To look with me upon those woeful ones—

Paint on their lips, and from a corpse their hair,

And eyes of simulated lust, astare!