Kafala
Hidden they say. They’re hidden.
Glimpses from the air of fencing around boxes,
Perhaps. That’s all you’ll get.
Until you recognize the signs.
The long white buses, windows cracked but curtains drawn
(against the sun, of course).
Railings spread with orange safety suits drying from a bathtub wash
(maybe they have a bathtub)
Or blue coveralls, that you see also on men
Crossing an eight-lane highway from the piece of desert
With a concrete-block gas station full of cigarettes and phone cards
To the piece of desert that encamps them
Enfolds them in secrecy, in kafala.
Those men wrapping their faces in towels against the caste-lowering sun.
Those men squatting in a bit of shade from a sign,
THIS HOARDING WILL BECOME MEDIA CITY.
Become it on their backs, become steel and glass and airy public spaces
From 12 men to a room
From passports in the boss’s pocket
From credit at the grocery for every day they cannot pay the exit fine.
A man in an Armani suit will slice the ribbon with ceremonial shears
And I will pat myself on the back
For learning Hindi for keep the change,
For learning the signs that say work camp.
If I were one for heaven
They would ask me on the threshold,
Did you stop or turn away?
And Hell will have the look
Of this vast desert.
________________________________________________________
The kafala system is explained in this article about the construction of NYU Abu Dhabi.
whipchick lives next to an active construction site.
.
Glimpses from the air of fencing around boxes,
Perhaps. That’s all you’ll get.
Until you recognize the signs.
The long white buses, windows cracked but curtains drawn
(against the sun, of course).
Railings spread with orange safety suits drying from a bathtub wash
(maybe they have a bathtub)
Or blue coveralls, that you see also on men
Crossing an eight-lane highway from the piece of desert
With a concrete-block gas station full of cigarettes and phone cards
To the piece of desert that encamps them
Enfolds them in secrecy, in kafala.
Those men wrapping their faces in towels against the caste-lowering sun.
Those men squatting in a bit of shade from a sign,
THIS HOARDING WILL BECOME MEDIA CITY.
Become it on their backs, become steel and glass and airy public spaces
From 12 men to a room
From passports in the boss’s pocket
From credit at the grocery for every day they cannot pay the exit fine.
A man in an Armani suit will slice the ribbon with ceremonial shears
And I will pat myself on the back
For learning Hindi for keep the change,
For learning the signs that say work camp.
If I were one for heaven
They would ask me on the threshold,
Did you stop or turn away?
And Hell will have the look
Of this vast desert.
________________________________________________________
The kafala system is explained in this article about the construction of NYU Abu Dhabi.
whipchick lives next to an active construction site.
.