Lewis Alexander, "The Tobacco Factory Girl" (1927)
If the man
To whom she gives her love:
Sees her as the mother of his children,
Or the woman for his body's pleasure?
The sad black girl upon his arm
Goes to the factory each morning at seven.
She works beside him the hours through.
They trudge down Pettigrew Street each dusk.
She is his daily companion, his choice.
She is snubbed by the shoppers of Fayetteville Street;
Who forget that she makes them.
I wonder if her husband too forgets?
I wonder
If the man
To whom she gives her love:
Sees her as the mother of his children,
Or the woman for his body's pleasure?