The housekeeper I don’t know how old he is
But he should have
Retired
A long time back
————–
He’s there in the mornings
Six days a week
Carrying the putrid remains
Of other people’s feasting
—————
There’s unwanted parts
Of Vegetable
Fruit peels too
Discarded meals
And worse
——————
Sanitary pads
Diapers
Of babies and adults
Loads of plastic
Packaging
It’s all part
Of the job
————–
Recyclable things
To be separated
And given
But if they don’t
He has to
Put them apart
The smelly stuff
In the green bins
Thank God
They give him
Gloves
But all are
Not so fortunate
—————
There’s a lift
But he cannot
Share
With the others
More fortunate than him
Or they may
Suffocate
In
The stink
Of their own garbage
—————-
The bins laid down
In neat rows
The organic composted
The recyclables loaded
On the municipal trucks
But still his work
Is not done
—————
The compound
Swept
The lobbies too
The lifts cleaned
With perfumed Spray
Now it’s time
For rest
————-
He now goes
To kind people’s
Houses
To collect leftovers
————–
Some fresh
Some stale
That might give him
A bad stomach
—————
He takes it all
And shares it
—————-
As in of old
They break the bread
————-
He’s finally gone
He’s retired
Comes once in a while
To visit my maid
Who gave him money
For the pao
When we had
Leftover
Chicken curry
————–
I miss him so
But
Is that because
The new guy
Won’t take
My leftover
Chicken curry?
————–
My conscious pricks
When the leftovers
Are eaten
By my dustbin
—————–
Oh how good and kind
I used to feel
When he would
Take with grace
My stale leftover
Chicken curry
Substances hurt people^ hurt people 