Beware of Scorpions

I really don't have much to say today so here's a poem. I wrote this one quite a long while ago, but I still like it and had never posted it, so here ya go...

Scorpion in the Sand

Both women ignore the excited babble that The Child
dumps in clumps at their feet.
The Child, between the two, jumps happily
Up
and
Down.
Such is the fate of children.
He is nearly invisible beyond the profound bellies.
The women barely notice that he is there.
One of them is his mother,
but it could be either one.
In their ignorance, it makes no difference at all.
Because, for the moment, they are too far
out of reach
to notice.
Both women are talking at once.
In their lightning voices and sparkling eyes
a routine is visible.
They lie in the sun like fattened animals;
massive lumps of flesh.
The greasy drops of sweat upon their brows
are disregarded as casually as The Boy,
Who has given up his vain cry
and now plays happily
with a scorpion in the sand.
Such is the fate of children.