Mamma didn’t raise no fucking princess
Mamma didn’t raise no fucking princess
Don’t go in there
Why?
There’s some pee on the floor?
The toilet seat’s never been cleaned?
I’ll have to hover and squat and not touch the wall,
for shit’s been smeared upon them?
Mamma didn’t raise no fucking princess
toilet paper’s for the rich
just give it a shake
and wash in the shower later
the people here sleep on wooden slates
have saunas and sweat the dirt out
instead of showers
their bodies know not of hot water
in showers
They can’t complain about lumpy pillows
sagging mattresses
for they sleep on wooden slates
where the cold seeps in
and stays till the morning
The 13-year-old daughter
works 10 hour days
for $80 a month
black hands from polishing shoes
under the yellow sun
because her father’s an alcoholic
and her mother can’t support four children
So no, I won’t piss in the privileged toilets
I’ll squat a little
so I can remember what I have
and where I could have came from
getting dirty in doses
does mounds for our humility
© Janne Robinson