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Hunger Poems

You are encouraged to read the poems posted here and elsewhere on the

Poetry X Hunger website, to look  
at 
the historic accounts of hunger,

famine and starvation, or consider the ​prompts suggested and then...

​write some poetry about hunger.
 

Poem by Jefferson Carter

1/16/2021

1 Comment

 
SQUAB
The poem was first published in The Chiron Review               


Driving to yoga this morning, I saw
a flock of pigeons raveling & unraveling
above the palm trees. Our city’s poet laureate 
writes about pigeons as avatars of love.
What did I see? Protein on the wing.


Our laureate compares feral pigeons 
to street people, both declared unsanitary 
urban pests, the birds’ bodies contaminated 
by heavy metals, but whose aren’t?


I want to be a good person, stop child abuse,
take back the night, fight poverty.  I’m 
ashamed I eat when I’m not hungry.


No more memes on Facebook, no more 
feel-good marches, let’s learn to mend nets, 
scald feathers, to gut & to spatchcock, let’s
deliver tons & tons of pigeon meat to shelters 
& soup kitchens, saying, “Enjoy!  It’s squab!”
Picture
Jefferson Carter has poems in such journals as Barrow Street, Cream City Review, and Rattle.  Chax Press published Get Serious: New and Selected Poems, chosen as a Southwest Best Book of 2013 by the Tucson/Pima County Public Library.  In 2020, Presa Press released his eleventh collection, Birkenstock Blues.
He lives in Tucson with his wife Connie.  He’s a passionate supporter of Sky Island Alliance, a regionally-based environmental organization.
 

1 Comment
Rose Mary Boehm link
1/17/2021 01:43:35 pm

My first comment didn't 'stick' it seems. LOVED this poem. Hit the right spot. Excellent.

Reply



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  • Home
  • About
    • About the Initiative
    • Initiative Founder
    • Advisory Board
  • Hunger Poetry
    • e-Collection
    • Hunger Poems
    • World Food Day Poetry Competition >
      • 2021
      • 2020
      • 2019
      • 2018
    • Maryland Poets
    • International Poets
  • ART
  • News & Blog
  • Young!
    • Poems by Young Poets
    • Videos
    • Materials for Teachers
  • Library
    • Extent of Hunger >
      • Global Hunger: Progress & Challenges
      • Hunger in the US
    • Historic Accounts of Hunger >
      • Africa
      • The Americas
      • Asia
      • Europe and Russia
    • Historical Poems
    • Interviews
    • Recent highlights
  • Contact/Submit/Take Action
    • Submission Guidelines
    • Call to Action
    • Resources & Donations >
      • Global resources
      • US resources
      • Maryland resources