The Maid

Robert Allen

August 2, 2026

                                       Because Papa works

and Mama’s away, I know what it’s like

when the only grownup around our house

has skin whose color is like the crayon

sometimes used for the bark of trees.

                                                            I know

the sound of a voice with a dusky edge,

calling me in from play in our backyard.

I know what it is like to see someone

search for radio stations at the end

of the dial, and to realize she can dance

without moving her feet.

                                        I know the smell

of cigarette smoke and ash.

                                            At the close

of a long day, I know what it’s like

to rest in this woman’s warm lap and watch

Amos ‘n Andy.

                        I know how laughter

comes welling up from a place deep inside.

I know, too, what it is like to struggle

with the matching of socks after laundry

because she is colorblind.

                                          I know what

separation is like because these arms

that hold me now are loving, but never

will they be my mother’s arms.

                                                   I know what

grief is like, because I’ve seen her youngest

weep for his mother, throwing his body

across her coffin while the congregation

sings a hymn of praise.

                                      I know this woman.

Robert Allen lives in San Antonio with his wife, two children, one cat, and five antique clocks. His poems have appeared in The Senior Class, Lone Star Poetry, and the Texas Poetry Assignment. He loves cardio-boxing and facilitates the in-person Open Writers Lab at Gemini Ink. His parents founded and managed Allen Electric Company, an electrical contracting firm in San Antonio for sixty-three years. In the 1950's while Allen Electric was wiring the original Wilford Hall Hospital, Robert's mother was diagnosed with tuberculosis, and Robert's father hired a secretary for the business and a maid to help raise Robert and his two older brothers. (Grandma came to live with the family as well.) The maid's name was Imogene White. She worked for the Allen family until her death in 1986.