A HOUSEMAID

Hair dishevelled,

Vermillion cleansed,

Skin creased, eyes sunken,

Face dry, and voice choked.

I ask, ‘What’s wrong?’

‘Your uncle died.’

‘How?’

‘Just a fall from bed at day break.’

The cabin is dark,

Decaying,

Promoters warn

Countless times,

Saplings have grown

In cracked walls,

A pig, two hens, a cat

Play and fight,

Fight and play.

Where does she go?

I don’t know,

The world is too big

She must find her way.

So I think and take my part

Like an old, hairless dog

Driven out by its loved master.