In the undertow of the barrio,
toilers and warriors
slouch down to earn their pay.
Sweat drips from down brow.
Callous grows the hands whose
fingers caress a young woman.
She scrubs linoleum
on wet knees. Chapped knuckles
wipe dry on a damp apron then reach
for a child. A young boy
with such soft palms stretches
out to touch his mother’s face,
to find the thin place,
hearing her heart hum.
His father lurks
in the shape of his hands.

*Bittersweet Rhapsody Anthology; 1998 - PRINT ISSUE *Ariga Webzine; June 1998 *Curiosity’s Escape, Iss. #7; August 1998 *Moonshade Magazine, Iss. #9; July/August 1998- PRINT ISSUE

© Getty & Fey.