A Gambian Woman

With a child wrapped on her hips and back
     she arrives
She has come to our clinic
     at the urging of her village midwife
     to learn her fate
Her exam was not normal
     a growth seen on the opening to her womb
She has not yet fallen ill but her eyes see the future—
     women of her village have made the same journey

The cancer will grow
     the cervix will succumb

Perhaps she will return to us, seeking support and comfort
     yet she knows
In this country of few resources
     there is no surgeon trained for her needs
     there is no medicine nor therapy here
A long travel north to Dakar could provide care and hope
     if she can pass entry to this foreign land without papers
     if she can understand a language not her own
     a path she cannot fathom nor fund on her wages

I hold her baby to me and only think what I cannot utter aloud
     my love, I am sorry, I cannot save your mother.