10
a conversation with a farmworker Vennela Avula
in the waiting room, you sit across from me your weary eyes take in a new environment bright lights shine on your sunburnt skin we speak the language of silent h’s i ask how you like it here you reply demasiado trabajo y muy poca comida, viajamos desde lejos y no hablamos el idioma this hospital, they think we don’t comprehend but it is they who don’t understand every time, they tell us to take the prescription as if it can fix the effects of a decade of working in the fields a lifetime of injustice the doctors say our health is determined i worry for my daughter how do i stop the cycle from continuing how do i protect her from the circumstances of our life -Vennela Avula is a third-year undergraduate student from Raleigh, NC, pursuing a major in Environmental Health in the Gillings School of Global Public Health and a minor in Spanish for the Health Professions.-
