Rainfall in the Desert

(Contemplations of an Oxfam Trail Walker in Training at 32ks)

I think of the women for whom walking miles
is almost a daily chore
just to get water
Their smiling photo, gallons balanced atop their heads
speaks glamour, travel & the riches
that enable us to tour there
I think of the children working in the tobacco fields of Asia
in the factories rolling bidis
nicotine poisoning their young bodies
The 3rd world women, backs always-sore
from their long days bent at work
so we don’t have to
Women locked in roles & routines
their minds dead to even the possibility
of variation
Skinny Asian girls toes gripping 6 inch heels
standing for hours on broken pavement
relieved only when they’re paid to take-a-load-off
by some pedophilic-minded guy from our countries
I think of them, because unlike them
I can stop the boredom with a phone call
go home to a family that loves me, a hot shower
& a safe comfortable sleep
My aches and pains are nothing
the small amount I help raise
a drop
But, together
us Trailwalkers
will make a rain fall in the desert

© Marewa Glover 2011