TWO WORLDS
 Airport Lounge (Villahermosa). Image (cropped): Vmzp85, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons |
| The First Class lounge floats like Olympus |
| on the second floor at Benito Juárez Airport, |
| a discrete distance above the multitude |
| herding like hungry cattle on the concourse below. |
| Inside, soft leather couches surround TV monitors |
| offering fútbol and the latest news. |
| Computer terminals wait against one wall, |
| illuminated bottles stand shoulder to shoulder |
| behind the elegant bar. |
| Maids in maroon aprons serve lunch and drinks. |
| They attend silently, carrying and clearing, |
| while the affluent passengers linger, waiting |
| for flights to picturesque destinations. |
| The maids inhabit a different world, |
| a world with no boarding passes. |
| Their days unfold in a monotonous routine |
| of early morning bus rides, tedious labor |
| and long trips home after dark. |
| This is how it goes for them, |
| week after week, year after year. |
| Like countless others everywhere, |
| their reality is the anonymous |
| and habitual life of the working poor. |
| Thea Evensen 2026 |
Published or Updated on: March 8, 2026
