A Day in the Life of a Third World Cleaner.

It is her husk that rises from her bed
...a weary marrow in her spine
picks up the same old clothes to wear again
The woman heading from the Dunes

The broom and cloths..the bucket and the mop
She walks across the valley over rocks
along the twisting path near mountain goats
and down the hill she reaches that remote
oasis in the arid land
The palms and tennis court , the temple
of the lurid grande

Dogs snarl , but she walks by
she knows that they are tethered there for life.
She enters thru the back … her day begins
Hard cleaning those 10 hours aches her bones

…and then she leaves
the hunger in her roars….and she is weak.

Back in her torn room with rough made walls
she boils up rice and beans
and lies upon the mossy floor to close her eyes
and sleep until it all begins again.

Kristine Byrne 2013