after ‘Breast Pump, London, England, 1870-1901’, Wellcome Collection



The pump, nestled in a cloth-lined

locked box, is made of two parts:

apple-shaped glass bulb,

brass syphon embossed with the names

of its makers, son & son.

The key to the box is long-gone,

not to be used again: the piston missing

its sweet oil, the mouth it fed

a mouth no longer.
Glass has a memory we can only

intimate: skin and heat,

milk blown brightly to a centre.
Salt on the lip

between bowl and brass:

where tears were shed,

the greedy instrument had its fill.