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Poems

Hunger # 1 by Jesse Alexander

5/28/2019

2 Comments

 
Second Prize
 
Hunger #1.
 
hides with you after 1am (btwn guard shifts)
trying to doze in backseat of your mom’s old blue CR-V (
good sleeping car, she said,
rear seats fold down,
her goodbye factory hands pressing your cheeks
)
parked under sodium light in the back of the chemestry building lot
next to the dumpster (with half-eaten mcdonalds other students threw out)
 
sneak into your dormroom (almost pranklike)
when momma’s check runs out
before the end of the month midway into the semester
demanding choices (am selfish):
study me instead of physics
nurse me instead of biology
pay me your undivided attention
cross your arms over your growling stomach
curl up
try to close your eyes
and wait for morning.

Judges’ Comments – This poem felt deeply personal and several of the references tugged at my heartstrings and memories, and it still really carried the larger picture of raising hunger awareness, without losing the specific imagery and personal touch   How do you tell an entire story in a line?  This poem told many.  Hunger -- it’s that pair of dangling parentheses.  
2 Comments

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  • Home
  • Hunger Poetry
    • 2021 World Food Day >
      • Poems Submitted for the 2021 World Food Day Poetry Competition
    • Poets Speak Back to Hunger
    • Now more than ever! >
      • Now more than ever: Submitted poems
    • 2020 WFD Poetry Competition >
      • 2020 World Food Day - submitted poems
      • 2020 World Food Day Poetry Competition announcement
    • World Food Day Poetry Competition 2019 >
      • World Food Day 2019 - Submitted Poems
    • World Food Day Poetry Competition 2018 >
      • WFD 2018 - Submitted Poems
    • Maryland Poets
    • International Poets
  • About
    • About the Initiative
    • Initiative Founder
    • Advisory Board
  • News & Blog
    • Events
  • 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
  • Create
    • Prompts to help you get started
  • Contact/Submit/Take Action
    • Submission Guidelines
    • Call to Action
    • Resources & Donations >
      • Global resources
      • US resources
      • Maryland resources