GETTING WATER

January 26, 2013

GETTING WATER

(For A Maid)

It was an experiment of a well

where you get water, pail by pail or drop by drop

Rain fills that well, dug, layers down

So she and I would scoop our pails,

carry them meters’ going back house.

The pail was not heavy for us, for

we were both young and arduous.

We filled drums, as saving water for our home

It was easy, yet her hands mottled red

while she gripped the sleek handle,

carrying on a task to please me -

my eyes swelled of her devotion…

I said to myself, “My hands must never be tired.

They must carry more than her hands.”

Perhaps, seven times her courage -

I am sorry, for what they did.

I am sorry, for what I did not do.

Thank you for getting water for us.

/rosalinda flores martniez