Poetry X Hunger
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Hunger is a worldwide scourge. 
​This section includes poems recently written by poets from
​around the world.   

Poem by Brenda Gunn

5/8/2021

3 Comments

 
Still Life

              She showed up late
              for picture day
              eyebrows shaved
              ratty toque pulled low
Do you want to take it off? I asked.
For the photo?
No
               she pulled it lower with both fists
My sister tortures me
               hiss-whispered
               between savage gulps
               of milkless instant oatmeal
from a tiny pack stashed in a locked drawer
              in the school office
That’s four times this week the secretary sniffed
              as if there’s a moratorium
              on food instability
      I don’t ask if this one knows where auntie is or if
      uncle still finds her and her little sister fake-sleeping
      under T-shirt blankets on the couch
              She tried to hide
              the circle seared into her palm
              the scratches on her knees
              from the cat,
              or so she said
              last time
Is there any more?
A note from the poet -- As an elementary school teacher of 33 years, I was often confronted with kids/families living with food insecurity. Ask any elementary teacher, and they will show you a snack drawer/closet/cupboard stocked with granola bars, oatmeal, beef jerky, crackers, etc. usually purchased with their own money, for hungry students. This poem is a reflection of that all-too-common situation. ​
Click on the file below to watch the video of Brenda reading her poem:
video_clip_brenda_gunn_still_life_img_2168.mov
File Size: 81130 kb
File Type: mov
Download File

Picture
Since retiring in 2017, Brenda's immersion in family research inspired a collection of poetry based on her paternal ancestry. A proud member of the Edmonton Stroll of Poets and the Parkland Poet's Society, her work has been published in Canadian journals and anthologies. Brenda is completing a certificate in creative writing and is at work on a second collection of poems. ​

3 Comments

Poem by Doreena Jennings

5/3/2021

1 Comment

 
The Capuchin Day Centre

It’s Wednesday morning

and the queue on Bow Street
gets longer year on year - a family
with two children wait in line
for the blue bag from brother Kevin. 
Bread, butter, beans and more - their home,
a hotel room, two bus rides away. 
Yet somehow this place, is just enough
to put a half smile back on a mothers face,
on these dirty Dublin streets.
Click on the file below to listen to Doreena read her poem:
the_capuchin_day_centre.m4a
File Size: 1032 kb
File Type: m4a
Download File

Picture
Doreena is from Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin,
Ireland and has been writing from the age of twelve.
Her writing is like a diary, reflecting life’s ever-changing emotional landscape. She is a member of the award winning ‘Carlow Writers Co-op’. 

1 Comment

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  • Home
  • About
    • About the Initiative
    • Initiative Founder
    • Recipients and Donors
  • Hunger Poetry
    • e-Collection
    • Hunger Poems
    • World Food Day Poetry Competition >
      • 2021
      • 2020
      • 2019
      • 2018
    • Maryland Poets
    • International Poets
  • ART
    • ART Inspired Poems
  • 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 >
      • Global resources
      • US resources
      • Maryland resources