PAULINA :( the maid)

So plump, so jolly, colourful & happy, Paulina,

Black hands glisten amidst white soapy suds,

Always laughing, giggling, beautiful smiling Paulina,

Madam´s babe asleep on your breast Paulina,

While your heart, beneath your apron thuds,

Keep on singing hymns, blues, Soweto beat,

Beautiful harmony, to forget, Paulina.

Rose-pink overall caressing your full black being,

Matching doek covering your black woman´s brain,

Within, you are the same as them, but they turn away,

Are they really that blind? Or choose not to see, Paulina?

You serve with a smile, you obey their every whim Paulina,

You wash & clean, & care for their young, always serene,

Sweeping, cooking, ironing, always bending, always aching,

Always yes-ing, never no-ing madam, do you mind Paulina?

You´ve been told not to steal, & not to touch, & remember,

Paulina, you must not smell, you must be clean,

You scrub your skin sore & shiny, you smell of violets,

Do you think clean Paulina?

 The floors polished, hands cracked & knees are raw,

Their tea is served by you on silver tray,

Feed their kids, bath their babes, take them all to school,

Who feeds & baths your distant babes Paulina?

And where is their school so far away?

You cannot read nor write, but secretly yearn to Paulina,

For madam, you knit & sew, & crochet too,

But for that you don´t get paid Paulina,

You listen to secret radio & know what´s happening,

In your land of sick apartheid, land of sickening laws,

You are Mrs. Thembi, but to the madam, just the maid,

Your husband, down the gold mines, & not allowed to visit,

Do you miss his warm kiss; miss him on cold nights Paulina?

Six children in the homelands, being cared for by a friend,

How they long for you Paulina, their mother´s sweet smile,

Longing for their mother´s warm nurturing breast,

You wonder, as you plump madam´s silken pillows, Paulina,

Where & when it will all end.