Ojala
You told me Ojala,
God willing.
God willing you would marry
After the age of twenty.
Sitting with our eighteen-year-old
Toes playing in the dirt.
Thinking of love.
I didn’t understand
Why you said Ojala.
I didn’t understand
The force behind marrying young.
And the fear that comes with it.
But God wasn’t willing.
And I watched my sister
Of the same age
Engage and marry
Within three days.
Watched the tears drop
From my mother’s face
Watched my father’s smile
Turn to stone.
They tried to make you stay.
But you had to go.
And I watched
As you climbed the hill
Disappearing into the distance.
You live with his family now.
You cook and you clean.
You milk their cows
As he works in the city
Arriving home late to sleep
And to wake up early
To repeat the routine.
You are alone.
And you miss home.
Where the lagrimas still flow
In your absence.
But you wont be alone for long
With one on the way.
Ojala, Ojala, Ojala
That you will find the light
Even in the dark crevices of loneliness.
