The Lunch Box
Empty, the plastic box was swung over her shoulder
as she walked the dusty road to school.
The lid was secured with frayed green string.
She stopped as two of her friends, waving and smiling,
came into view. They joined a group chattering,
laughing and jittering about; iron filings drawn to the
magnet that was Isolemamba Junior School in Mobeni.
At lunch time Celestina joined a queue that danced in anticipation
towards the steaming pot of today’s chicken dish.
The elderly woman filled her lunch box and smiled
as she helped Celestina to tie on the lid.
This shut out the smell that filled her
and made her mouth wet.
She went out to play with the children who had eaten.
After school she walked home, strong on her eight year old legs.
She carried the lunch box with gravity.
Her father was dead, taken by Aids, her mother had no work.
Celestina fed her family of five from the lunch box, every day