Thank you to the Cleaning Ladies

p Thank you to the cleaning ladies, the ladies that lug vacuums and buckets with cleaning aids.nbsp; Thank you for coming in, even when yoursquo;re tired and sick and sick and tired; thank you for being humble yet strong.nbsp; I sit at my desk at this apartment complex--a seemingly innocuous, colorless concierge--polishing the marble counter top that covers everything but my face.nbsp; I canrsquo;t hide my brown face from the mirror of your face when you walk through the door.nbsp; Your face is brown too.nbsp; Your indigenous face is the landscape that the man cannot strip.nbsp; In your face I see the history of this land.nbsp; In your indigenous face I see the journey of a better life, a dream cradled like a thousand bursting suns.nbsp; Thank you for your journey.nbsp; Thank you for the journals written in your hands, your face.nbsp; I sit and write in my journal.nbsp; I write what I see when I see your face.nbsp; The pages are a landscape etched in fire, barbed wire, fences, wallsmdash;struggle; yet the landscape is reborn day to day bearing your presence.nbsp; I say thank you for your heart, your bravery, your tenderness, your laughter.nbsp; Thank you for holding it together when it comes apart.nbsp; Thank you for mending and soothing the creases of our hearts.nbsp; Thank you for planting the seeds which grow in our minds.nbsp; Thank you for smiling when you feel like crying.nbsp; Thank you for your fight, your struggle.nbsp; Thank you./p