Jan Edwards Hemming

Salve Regina, Mater Misericordiae

After Anne Sexton’s “Song for a Lady”
and Susan Jamison’s​ Above the Pack

I stare into the pink of the she-wolf’s mouth
open wide and gleaming with teeth
 
I lean close and breathe in
the smell of cold rain and black flies
 
swarming small breasts and rose hips
flowers and prayers at the feet of Mary
 
I put my hand in her fur
It is wild and wet with want
 
She licks her lips and takes
my wrist on her tongue like a host
 
Her eyes gleam gold as a seraph
In her maw my skin is clean