Cheshe Dow

8.8 months ago

 

It is cold outside

She is in a small room

Nothing but a thin sheet of

Something that looks like asbestos

Radiating a little heat

To keep them warm

 

All women they huddle around it

More of them than not

Are sick

Some are dying

Of a disease their combined cultures

Know nothing about

They know only

That the symptoms hurt

An older woman stands up

 

The woman feels she needs the toilet

The woman doesn’t make it to the door

The woman is leaking

Nthusa, tlhemma nthusa

Ijoo tlhe bathong Cancer ke a e tshaba

Ke a e tshaba

Help me, please help me

People of my home

I am afraid of cancer

I am afraid

 

She is trapped in the small room with

The leaking woman

The odour is pungent

Not one woman covers their face

Silently they bow their heads

 

The old woman wipes the floor

Plugs the leaks that are now hers

And asks their forgiveness

 

She does not see the old woman again

She doesn’t have to

She will never forget her.