The Cleaning Girl

3WW December 19, 2007

clumsy fire overlooked
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The Cleaning Girl

She smelled of sweat
and unwashed hair.
Stains decorated the front
of her too-small T-shirt.

I’d watch her carry
her cleaning supplies
toward her motel rooms,
Her shoulders rounded
her clumsy feet pigeon-toed.

Later, I’d check her work
to see what she had overlooked.
Sometimes, it was an extra
roll of toilet paper,
sometimes the dust
on the TV,
often, soap or towels.

At the end of the day
she’d shuffle back
to the storage room
with a sour look
on her face,
the same look
I knew
she’d make
when I’d have
to fire her.