A brown-skinned girl with the face of a movie star
carries a shopping bag up the unkempt street.
The passing buses, at this darkening hour, are replete
with Brazilians weary of another day spent so far
from order or progress. The sliding doors come down
on the tiny, perishable shops and luncheonettes;
falling inevitable as evening, or final regrets
for the way things were today, for the way things are
on this small street, and at bus stops all over town.