Two Stairways

The first greets guests as they parade
through the foyer to a sunken living room.
The steps--wide with carpeted tread--
ease along gilded walls

interrupted only by staid portraits
of patriarchs. Lips brush cheeks in
besitos de cultura alta,
as the gathering, elegant guests

follow the living room
past a massive dining room table
where innocuous ceramic buttons,
doorbell fixtures strategically placed

to summon the help from the kitchen
that hides the second staircase: steep, jagged,
and above all concrete. Servants--
with rough hands wrapped in skin

darker than the deep mahogony furniture
they rub to a high shine--
trudge between floors carrying meals,
laundry, lemon water,

and imperceptible curses
triggered by the buzzing commands.
Worms of rage burrow deep
into their hearts.