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She only wants milk

Erren Kelly

so her mother takes a couple
of spoons of powdered milk
she got from her sister
which was meant
for her child
and made it in a bottle
even added extra water to
stretch it out...

every day, she walks to the bodega
past medal shacks and murals of
fidel castro, who promised
a liter of milk a day for everyone

now, milk is as rare as the tourists
from canada and abroad

sometimes, she pacifies her child
with ice cream, some days you can get chicken
though it comes from elsewhere
embargoes and sanctions and corona
have crippled cuba

but they find a way to go on

even the farmers have sold their cows
cos they can no longer afford to feed them
a millennial buys acres, hoping he can help
bring the country back, he sneaks in sprinklers
in his luggage, he bought on amazon

she returns again, they tell her “no milk”
but when she got home, her sister tells her
it’s coming, and she inquires again

they told her they have milk
it’s just not her day

but a song still lingers among the streets
and old junk cars rust with the promises
of socialism and the ghost of Fidel
smiling back at them

her daughter sees a carton on the table
“Milk?,” she points, “Yes, Milk!” her mother
replies happily and hands her the carton

the daughter takes the carton of milk
with her to bed and holds it
as if it were gold

Such is life in Cuba...

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