The girl in the lemon saree washes her face
Chocolate skin and black-black hair
Through tinted glass she sees no trace
Of eyes that watch as they pass there

In the morning dew she preparse for work
Cleaning with dirty water amid a sea of tarp tents
And I wonder what wisdom or quirk
Has her working hard only for a few cents

And if I stop and sit a time
And sip some tea with her
Will I find her life so different from mine
Has it nothing that I should care for

But with thoughts alone it ends
And as the car drives past
I turn away and to her task she tends
My mind leaves her and her caste

Urgent tasks fill my head
But inside a part of me is sorry
That my time could not have been spent instead
Having tea with the girl in the lemon saree