She teeters.
It will take 118 years until the global pay gap
between men and women finally closes.
She waits.
One foot wedged on a crescent moon of a cradle,
she rocks half the world to sleep.
A basket of the deep Pacific sways atop her head,
brimming, bubbling, brimming, bubbling –
she can’t sip.
At her breast’s tip seven billion black hole mouths
guzzle food from her.
In her bony fingers, she clutches:
mops, ladles, laundry, blankets, bandages.
On her bowed, bare back falls:
India’s brothels, Bangladesh’s sweatshops, China’s factories.
Panting, she strains, stretches for the worth
she is due. Skin taut, her globe
belly bulges, a full-blown balloon, ready to birth.
Laura Stanley
Featured image courtesy of simpleinsomnia via Flickr. Image use licence here.
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