When Schools are Soup Kitchens She doesn’t raise her hand when the teacher asks who wants to order the free snack/supper even though she knows she will go hungry. No one else raises their hand. He shrugs and tells his friends he isn’t hungry, covers his growling stomach with laughter because he’d rather starve than his classmates discover his lunch account is empty again. Dining with dignity impossible when nothing at school is anonymous. Her teacher slips bags of chips into her desk while they are in P.E. so her classmates won’t see. The counselor fills his backpack with boxes of mac and cheese and cans of beans a bag of rice so he won’t go hungry over the long weekend. Bandaids on the gaping wound of their hunger. Click on the file below to listen to Gabby read the poem:
Gabby Gilliam lives in the DC metro area, more specifically Montgomery County, Maryland. Her poetry has appeared, or is forthcoming from, The Chesapeake Reader, The Fredericksburg Literary Arts Review, and Tofu Ink Arts Press. Her short fiction will appear in a forthcoming anthology from Black Hare Press.
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Hunger-focused Poems by Maryland PoetsCreation of this section and publishing the works of Maryland poets was supported by the Maryland State Arts Council. Archives
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