Maid Poem by Aparna Chatterjee

After a decade
Of housekeeping
When housework
Seemed like
Clock-work
Never-ending
The more you
Clean
The more
It piles up
For
Another
Clean…
I finally have a
Maid
Who helps me
Every week.

A luxury
I couldn't
Afford
In the past
Years
As the
Cost of
Living
In the UK
Is so high.

Now,
That she
Takes care
Of my
Home
And I
Pay her
Well -
For all the
Cleaning…
I should
Feel happy,
Shouldn't I?

I have more
Time…
For myself
And my
Family.

But why
Do I
Feel so
Guilty?

The Work
I didn't
Like doing
She does it
All for the
Money
She needs
To feed
Her family
Of four
Children.

The mother
In me
Doesn't
Quite
Relish
Seeing
This -
Another
Mother
Work
So hard
And do
Odd jobs
Such as
Cleaning
People's
Toilets
And baths.

We find it
So uneasy
To clean
Our own.

Money
Makes
A slave of you
You like it
Or not,
To feed
Four
Hungry
Bellies,
You have to
Clean
Other people's
Homes.

The Question
Remains:

Should I be
Feeling
Happy
About
Giving her
Employment
And giving
Myself
Some respite
From the
Daily
Drudgery
Of house-keeping?

Or should I be
Feeling uneasy
About the fact
That she's also
A woman like me
A mother like me
A human like me

Yet she works
So hard for
Money…
The kind of jobs
I would abhor
To do…
She does it
With a smile
To keep her
Employers
Happy…
As she knows
If she
Loses her
Job, her
Children
Will be so
Unhappy.




(Poem themed on Dilemma)