June 20, 2023

the awards ceremony

We sat upright with our folded loads of laundry, our flattened milk cartons
and salad servings and every walk signal we’d ever obeyed. In our laps,
the apologies we offered freely and the dishes we washed without complaint. 
Behind our backs, our daily flossings, and by our feet, the tallies of our on-time arrivals. 
We were doing the unglamorous work and not minding it, perhaps even—dare I say—
relishing the inventories we were piling up. But when the awards were called, our names 
stayed silent. No honorable mentions, even, no runner-runners-up. Our labors, 
like ungrateful children, turned on their heels as we sank in the echo of someone else’s
thundering applause. How many of us were there, waiting to be seen, to be remembered?
After it was over, we all shuffled to the exits, spilling from every side of the same room.