A Conversation

A conversation began
Between an old woman
In a black dress
And a young woman
Trying to impress.

The old woman
Pondered the identity
Of this woman
Who stood beyond
Her doorway.

"Are you Raoul's wife?
Snr. Hernandez's girlfriend?
Or the wife of
The missionary who claims
He is here to bring
My girls closer to God?"

"Oh, no, Senora,
No," the woman replied
With a tone of
Respect the old woman
Had grown accustomed to
Hearing from the girls
Who lived in her grand house.

"I am here to
Ask for a job,
To be one of your
Girls," she continued.

"Why?" asked the old woman.
Why would such
A beautiful woman
Want to work
For me? thought
The old woman.

"Love.
I want to be loved,
I want to give love,
I want to make love,"
Stated the young woman.

At this,
The old woman laughed.
It was a long time
Since she had laughed
So fully,
So heartily,
That she savoured
Each Ho,
Each Ha.

"You will never find
Love here," the old woman said
After the laughter had ceased.

"Raoul does not love Gina,
The woman he visits
Every Wednesday at noon.
He loves the softness
Of her flesh,
The tightness of her hold."

"Juan does not love Maria,
He loves the way her
Expansive bosom
Swings like a pendulum
In time with his pace."

"The new Pastor does not love Juanita,
He loves the way her mouth
Gives him pleasure,
The pleasure he would
Never get from his
Good Christian wife."

"No, my dear woman,
Love has never been here.
These men do not love
My girls.
They just come here
To find a release,
Then they go home
To their women.
It is at their homes,
You will find their
Love."

With that said,
The old woman sent
The young woman on her way.
Another woman saved
From this unsavoury profession
That equated a woman
To a squirt of lotion
In a man's hand.
An ends to a means.

She hopped that
With each woman
She turned away,
She would be one
Step closer to getting
Into heaven.

She watched the young
Woman walk down the road,
And it was only
When she could no longer
See her that the old woman
Went back into the grand house
To tally the young pastors bill.