The expected news came folded within the white paper
That smelled of the freshly printed ink.
After so much unexpectedness these past ‘monthly – years’
The big bold underlined words didn’t surprise her but instilled the reality of what’s to come.
In its true meaning it meant until we knew how to survive with covid-19 we will remain in uncertainty of whether the income that fed us will continue to do so.
Four children – one a nineteen year old – who still dreamed of a better life outside of the squatter camp.
The time for crying never presented itself, the question of if
‘Temporarily laid off’ would be followed by ‘due to unforeseen circumstances we no longer can afford to pay you’.
The strength in my mother’s eyes never wavered, her calmness reclaimed the bit of control the virus thought it had taken from her.
In control and in her power she stands in the face of this adversity and like the force she is, captains our family ship on the world’s voyage through uncharted waters.
I wonder if I told the world that I lived with a superhero,
Would anyone believe?