She

 

By amanda m

 

The sun's scorching hot
There's no sign of rain
Silence sweeps the lonely streets
As the world stands on its toes

But there she is
With a basket full of today's and tomorrow's meal
With a sun hat so big and a walk so vigorous
Her lips are cracked and pleading with thirst
But her voice stands unshaken
"Apples!! Sweet apples for a rand!!"
She repeated at the top of her lungs

She was known, the township's morning alarm
She could be heard from around the corner
Before sunrise
Before the morning haze
Before life was brought back into the streets
And right after the sun sunk

There she was
With a head wrap around her shoulders
A skirt so long that it kissed the ground
But looked more of a carpet that lay beneath her feet
Yesterday's struggle had passed and a new one had begun

I saw the hunger in her timid eyes
The exhaustion was vivid
It showed in her hunched shoulders
The wrinkles under her eyes
The sun burn on her arms

Whispers of her shameful youth passed around door to door time and again
Rumors of when she was still a flower and the talk of town
Rumors about men who fought for her attention
A woman envied by most and loved by none

But her voice was so unforgiving
All she ever wanted was to feed her kids
Her every day persistency drove her to the edge but never had it broke her
Stopped her from having faith that one-day everything would be okay
And even though at times she was tempted to give in and give up
She never did

Every day became a mission
She earned peanuts and could only afford to put scraps on the dinner table
But that didn't stop her to teach her kids to always show gratitude
The world was so cruel towards her
It picked her up and showed her the finer things in life
Only for it to come crushing down and lay on her shoulders

Not once was she ever given a chance to tell her story
Not once did anyone care to listen
To take a moment and sit her down
But like I said, that didn't stop her

There she is...
A woman with a basket of apples and a sunhat so big
There she is...
A woman with a story to tell and no audience to listen
There she is...
A woman just like any other, a mother, a sister, a friend
But most of all, a Queen with a tilted crown