Sleeping Beauty Poem by azmat naushad asif

She stands under a street lamp
In not so decent clothes
Her make up more to hide
Than to highlight
She waits for visitors
To visit
Desperately
She has several mouths to feed
Including her own
Her belly rumbles
As a car slows down beside her
How much? the man asks
To sleep with me?
She smiles a smile
To fake her worth...
For one hour
She adds and substracts
The fees to be paid
The rent to be given
The medicines to be bought
And what not
Some grocery shopping she has to do
And buy school dresses
For her baby who has been promoted
Some makeup to maintain herself
Some protections so that she does not end herself
Several mouths she has to feed
Then she substracts and sees
That what's been paid is not enough
The hour ends
And she is on the road
To become a sleeping beauty again.