Vene May

If Moses was Filipino 

 

Marnie tells me that she is a swimmer

tells me that from as young as she can remember 

she has been floating through floodwater 

tells me that sometimes when it happens

she imagines she is baby Moses 

floating down the Nile 

waiting for a queen to find her. 

 

Underneath a corrugated metal roof 

rusty from ravaging torrents 

Underneath a corrugated metal roof

The only respite for her and her baby girls

she shows me her swimming gear: 

her contact dermatitis wetsuit, 

the glass cut scars framing her eyes 

Like a snorkel

her wrinkled feet that she claims are nearly webbed.

 

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