MARIA

By: Kaye V. Sevilla

Awakened by the sun’s light

And the noise by the side road

She’ll carry her belongings

And she would run down the street

You’ll see her knock on your window

And plea for mercy or food

Give her a cent or more

Maria overjoys

She puts on a garb, and colored her cheeks

Untangled her hair and reddened her lips.

She’ll walk pass some alley

And later be picked

By some stranger to be feed

With her body and flesh

And in the dark corner of the room

Maria would weep.

Sweat in her crown

And a broom in her hand

With grimy dishes on the sink

And dirty laundry in the punnet

She would look at the crib

And watch her baby sleep

She would put up a smile

 Maria endures

She sat in that wooden chair

With her tied gray hair

In rhythm, rocking herself

Waiting for her end

She would wonder about her bygone

Pain, gay and restless she feels

And everything turns dark

Now, Maria could rest