Poem by Sushma Naithani

Memory of hunger

1
Desire and hunger
are one country --
those who survived one
do not easily
let another cross
The one who learned
never to ask for bread
learned also
never to ask for love

2
A hunger so old
cannot recognize
when it has finally been fed
the memory keeping only
what was scarce
never abundance
famine lives in the flesh
fat and silent

​3.
The body learned
from the season
hoard, brace, endure
even in summer
it is waiting
for frost.

THEME: Historical Hunge

---

​Sushma Naithani is a scientist, educator, and bilingual author (English, Hindi). She is a Professor at Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon. She has authored an open-access textbook, 'History and Science of Cultivated Plants' (Oregon State University, 2021) and a popular science book on Agriculture.

---