Poems by Sistah Joy

The Flyer

Grocery giveaway
Free food for the elderly
Please bring a bag

A neighbor handed it to her
At the bank

It lay on her kitchen table
For two weeks
Before she taped it
Inside her bare kitchen cabinet

Closed doors hide more than empty shelves

Even more than empty stomachs

Today pride took a step
To the back burner

So potatoes, carrots and onions
Simmer on her stove once again

Pots boil freely
As aromas rise

Drying proud hands and tear-filled eyes
On an apron accustomed to hosting
family dinners for years 
She wipes away tears,
Then picks up the phone

Time to place a thank you call
To a good neighbor
 (c) By J. Joy ‘Sistah Joy’ Matthews Alford

Here is the video of Sistah Joy reading her poem The Flyer: - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NaO8dcbXD8&t=12s

The Visitor

​Hungry paid me a visit today
Didn’t knock on the door
Or ring the bell
Just came right in
Made himself right at home
I tried to extend the courtesy of politeness
Despite his rude rumblin' sounds
Asked if he had someplace else he needed to be
Surely he could see from my fine table setting
I was expecting guests
But hungry had no use for niceties
Reached up and snatched my delicate doilies
And linen napkins right off the table
Threw my fine china to the floor
Then reached deep inside me
Grabbed and twisted my gut
Fillin’ me with such searing anguish and pain
That no living soul should ever come to know
So here I sit on the floor
Between empty cabinets and a refrigerator
That once overflowed with its bounty.
Tears stream down my face
As I try to comprehend
How this has become my reality

Thriving In This Land of Plenty

We have more than enough in this land of plenty…
          Plenty of food desserts
                   Plenty of obese diabetics 
                             Plenty of fast-food establishments 
                                       Plenty of inequality between communities
                                                Plenty of lucrative pharmaceutical companies
                                                         Plenty of greedy local development corporations
                                                Plenty of politicians with fattened pockets
                                        Plenty of ignorance about malnutrition 
                               Plenty of environmental racism
                      Plenty of fresh food insecurity
            Plenty of sedentary lifestyles
Plenty of apathy about water-stressed cities
            Plenty…                 plenty…                   plenty…  
​
© 8/8/19, J. Joy “Sistah Joy” Matthews Alford

Haiku Trilogy (A Poetry X Hunger Poem)

Some doctors convince
Seniors that their meds not their
Food keeps them healthy 

Ms. Jacobsen tried
Each new pill her doctor sold
Trying to get well
​
Her garden-grown fruit
Rotted on the vine as she
Filed for bankruptcy

​© 8/10/19, J. Joy “Sistah Joy” Matthews Alford
The video is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FX6tQiBdnkA 
​
"Did They Know" - The video is available here: https://youtu.be/y7bSZ0qo5gQ
​

J. Joy ‘Sistah Joy’ Matthews Alford was appointed as the inaugural Poet Laureate of Prince George's County, Maryland in 2018. Deeply involved in poetry work since 2003, Sistah Joy is known for messages of social consciousness, inspiration and empowerment.  In 2002 she received the Poet Laureate Special Award from the Washington, DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities “for her outstanding contributions to the art of poetry".​

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