Читать книгу The Poet X – WINNER OF THE CILIP CARNEGIE MEDAL 2019 - Элизабет Асеведо - Страница 12

Mami Works

Cleaning an office building in Queens.

Rides two trains in the early morning

so she can arrive at the office by eight.

She works at sweeping, and mopping,

emptying trash bins, and being invisible.

Her hands never stop moving, she says.

Her fingers rubbing the material of plastic gloves

like the pages of her well-worn Bible.

Mami rides the train in the afternoon,

another hour and some change to get to Harlem.

She says she spends her time reading verses,

getting ready for the evening Mass,

and I know she ain’t lying, but if it were me

I’d prop my head against the metal train wall,

hold my purse tight in my lap, close my eyes

against the rocking, and try my best to dream.