Soltera (for my single mamas)

There is this scene in the movie "Maid in Manhattan" which stars Jennifer Lopez in which she plays a young single Puerto Rican mother walking through the streets of the city with her young son and his over stuffed back pack. They are rushing, trying to get to work and school. She has her hair pulled back in a pony tail, wearing jeans and a frumpy sweater; the weight of the world on her pretty shoulders. I know this scene very well because I have lived it, and I see it on the trains, on the street corners, in elevators. The urban young single mama...Here in NY you can feel the rush of heat as they walk by..faces slightly tense and their eyes are always focused..as if they are trying to figure out "Gee, how do I get my kid to school by 8, myself to work by 9?"...."I have ten dollars in the bank and I don't get paid til next Tuesday"..."How come such and such hasn't called me?"..."Am I a disappointment to my parents, my child, myself?"..."How am I gonna make more money?", "I'm tired of school"..."What am I wearing this Friday?"...All of this going on in the mind....hair waving in the wind...feet hustling through the gritty city...The Empire State Building in the background...and a lot of subway rides...For most of us, no tall senator is going to whisk us away from our 9-5. That condo you want..You'll get it in about ten years if you work hard and don't fuck up. We have so many dreams and aspirations....Life seems to get in the way, it's too much sometimes...I know the blue jeans and the child with the half eaten bagel coming out of her mouth because we are running late..You are tired..you are lonely...you are scared..and for many of us,,we wish to the high heavens to be out of our current living situation for whatever reason...The overbearing mother who looks at you with slight judgement, the boyfriend who for the life of you refuses to move out,,the shelter, the Heights, the one bedroom apartment that you share with your child....I know...I know... Single mama...comb your hair, put on that pretty dress, smile...walk those streets...don't be late.