Hope In The Rain

For the women in prostitution in downtown Quito, and anywhere. 

One foot against the wall

knee cocked       the signal

to the men strolling past

       Then           a meeting of the eyes           a nod

he follows her to the brothel around the corner

Standing agreement with the owner 

money passing through so many hands 

it's a wonder we're not sick always 

We meet       

there on the corner         talking about our lives

            as though they are similar

Girl from Columbia, girl from the US,

arriving in Ecuador in such different ways

pondering            why some are born free

and others with a price tag

         always for sale, never long sold

So much being intimate           so little being known

only those who call her sister and friend

see behind the mask           will remember when she's gone 

       If I was born               with a barcode on my forehead 

would hope flee my heart?

Digging deep to find it within her

hidden under the soil              buried, protected

          finally

the roots are tender            yet resilient 

She is bone and earth and song like me

She is wonder

She is aching for love            and I

        am but a drop               reaching for her roots 

begging for rain.