She is Hungry

I see the woman in the conical hat
  pushing her bicycle
  laden with vegetables
  across the street

hemmed in on all sides
  by motos and cars
  rushing to their destiny

the riders unaware
  of the woman's story.

She rose before daylight,
  prepared rice for her children
  clothed them as best she could
  set them to work in the fields

Then, she harvested the vegetables
  loaded her bicycle
  and rode the 30 minutes into town.

If she did not leave early enough,
  she would not get a valuable spot
  on the street to vend her food.

And, if she could not sell her vegetables,
  her family would go hungry
  yet another day.

The rains came this day,
  keeping all inside
  except this woman,
  who sat with a plastic bag
  on her head,
  waiting
  waiting
  for someone.

No one came this day.
  her vegetables wilting from the heat
  her clothes soaked
  her purse empty

and tonight
  her children's stomachs
  empty

She is everywhere
  on the streets of Viet Nam
  in the fields of the Americas
  in the roundavals of Africa

and she is hungry