Poetry X Hunger
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Poem by Elizabeth Black

12/31/2021

1 Comment

 
Atrocities

Corpses pile up
in Tigray 
as millions flee
flies and hunger
risking death
or worse.

Women carry
on boney hips
and backs 
scraps of children
and home,
escape the last
house to house
cleanse of history
swept instead
into Sudan’s
dusty camps

displaced
to scratch a living
fed turmoil
fed atrocity
purged of aid
not yet culled
Click on the file below to listen to the poem:
elizabeth_black_poem.m4a
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Elizabeth Black is a painter and poet living in Northern Virginia who exhibits and publishes her work widely.  She recently retired from 40 years of nursing, many of those years working with the indigenous and subsistent farmers in developing countries.  In comments about her relationship to food issues Elizabeth said, "who would guess that nursing would lead me to identify and study nutrient values of foods found the tropics or develop chicken and pig cooperatives?  Food is always an issue in health care in poor and wealthy countries.”

1 Comment

Poem by Willeena Booker

12/31/2021

0 Comments

 
longing for more

barebones palette salivating on stale air
inhale aromatic memories before cupboards were left bare

praying for a meal but a morsel is barely there 
silent duel with hunger's boastful stare

one country wallows in gluttony yet another laments in despair
 if all men are created equal why is life so unfair

 incessant gnawing deep in the pit of my pitiful soul
 longing for sustenance to overflow an empty bowl

 mocking me, looming large, whither I go
 trembling hands unmask pain, my desperation grows

 head tucked low veiling the shame
 begging for food, oh God, this is insane!

 the Earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof
 starvation is a poison, the antidote is love

full bellies pass by in quick paste steps
 failing to see my hour of woe and regret

 God bless the one who grows his own
 tilling the ground with hands of his native home

 villagers pledge to restore the land
 plant more trees united we stand

 hunger, a silent pandemic raging out of control
 millions go hungry, but who keeps tally of the toll

 swaddled skeletons and emaciated remains
 hidden 6 feet deep, the world in motion yet unchanged

 come stand with me, brothers and sisters, let us rise as one
 act to eradicate hunger until global victory is won 
Audio reading --  https://watch.screencastify.com/v/1o1aTqq9nu0XAE6HbD5Q
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Willeena Booker is an elementary school teacher and a poet. She enjoys writing poetry that touches the heart and challenges the mind. Her work has recently been published by Moonstone Arts Center's Poetry Ink Anthology 2021, Haiku 2021 Anthology, and NonSense Verse Anthology 2021. Poet Project has featured her poem I Matter on their BIPOC poetry page and she was a finalist for the Rise Up Anthology by Oprell Magazine. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband and 3 daughters.

​

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Poem by Shan Overton

12/31/2021

0 Comments

 
The Custodians
for Agnes Denes 

While developers mapped lower Manhattan tracts 
She planted a summer wheatfield amidst rubble. 

While accountants and bankers sharpened their pencils 
She planted a mountain with thousands of fir trees. 

While the West burns, the South floods, and the North ice melts 
I water a small backyard container garden. 

This wheat, the trees, the heirloom tomatoes, the beans --
our air, our food, our beauty, our future, our hope.

Click on the file below to listen to the poem:
overton_the_custodians.mp4
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Shan Overton’s poems have been published in anthologies, including Virginia Overton: Deluxe and Voices from the Attic, Volumes XXV and XXVI, and her creative nonfiction has been published in The Porch Magazine and elsewhere. She studies creative writing with Madwomen in the Attic and has taken classes with Diane Glancy, Jan Beatty, and Lori Jakiela. In 2017, Overton won the Nashville Reads Writing Contest with an essay subsequently translated for publication in Spain. She is the Director of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary’s Center for Writing and Learning Support and the Faculty Mentor for the Doctor of Ministry program in Creative Writing and Public Theology.

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Poem by Eileen Trauth

12/31/2021

0 Comments

 
Doughnut Hole

She sprawled across the sidewalk
disrupting 
customers’ comfortable stroll
from the intersection 
to the upscale bakery.

She held a sign in her lap
asking for a dollar
to buy some food,
less than the dollar twenty-five
they’d give for a basic glazed,
one third what they’d spend
on the crème brûlèe specialty.

Patrons awkwardly assembled
in a line, outside the entrance,
forming around her,
encircling her request,
averting their eyes.
     
She did not yield
to their discomfort,
kept her gaze fixed 
on each departing shopper
eager to escape
into sweet oblivion.

Click on the file below to listen to the poem:
doughnut_hole.m4a
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Eileen Trauth is an author, inclusion advocate and Emeritus Professor at Pennsylvania State University. In addition to poetry, she has published several nonfiction books and an award-winning play. She lives in Cincinnati, Ohio. www.eileentrauth.com

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Poem by John L. Dutton II

12/31/2021

2 Comments

 
Hunger Visited My Classroom

Hunger visited my classroom every morning during my first year as a teacher.
Though it feels like forever ago, I never forget his blue eyes 
Nor his unkempt shaggy, blond hair.
He masqueraded as an eight-year-old boy
Dressed each day in the same ragged, filthy Power Rangers t-shirt.
The rings of dirt around his neck,
And the grime hiding deep under his fingernails 
Were his only companions.
His classmates ostracized him,
As they called him Pig Pen after the character in Charlie Brown.
Malnourishment attempted to hide
Behind a mountain of synonyms:
Thin, skinny, underweight, boney, scraggy, scrawny, beanpole -
The list seems endless 
Like the hunger creeping continually around this boy’s belly.
Hunger tried to stifle me; however, no matter how late his bus arrived, 
I always made sure he received his bag of breakfast 
Containing French toast sticks with syrup that never stayed contained
As I did my temper toward his constantly sticky desk.
I knew I could never defeat hunger as he grinned at me each morning,
But I could put a dent in him and 
Make sure he knew I wasn’t going to take it easy on him.
Jolly Ranchers, Life Savers, Sour Balls, and, my personal favorite, 
Werther’s Original Caramels filled the glass fishbowl on my desk. 
I never missed an opportunity to reward any positive action or answer. 
I called upon him at every opportunity to help with mundane tasks:
Passing out papers, sweeping the floor, walking papers down the hall to the office.
The smile on that boy’s face lite up my heart
As he enjoyed whatever treat I gave him.
On the last day of school, I gave him an entire bag of Jolly Ranchers, his personal favorites.
The following year, Mrs. P, his new teacher, and I greeted Hunger 
As he tried to slip silently into school on a brisk September morning.
I handed him an entire bag of Jolly Ranchers, and his smile nearly broke my heart.
As I watched Mrs. P escort him down the hall and into her classroom,
I whispered to myself, “Not today, Hunger, not today. Not on my watch.”

Link to the video of the poem reading:  
https://share.icloud.com/photos/0ceSYieXvTc6g0__1phfV52Yw#Lake_Ridge
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John L. Dutton II has over twenty years of teaching experience ranging from elementary school to high school. The last fifteen of those years he has taught language arts at the middle school level. Since 2013, John has actively been involved with two writing groups, Write by the Rails (WbtR) and the Prince William Poet Laureate Circle. He is a life member of the Virginia Writers’ Club and the Poetry Society of Virginia. In January 2015, he created Spilled Ink, an open-mic night that meets on the fourth Friday of every month to celebrate the written word.

2 Comments

Poem by Theresa Tull McGinnis

12/31/2021

0 Comments

 
Plant A Seed

     I’m hungry, said the child
     I have nothing, said the mother
     Feed them, said the Light of the World
     I’m hungry, said the child
     We have plenty, said the world
     We should feed you, said the light in the world
     I’ll plant a seed in their hearts, said the poet
     I’ll plant a seed in your funds, said the donor
     I’ll plant a seed in your ground, said the farmer
     And from these seeds the mighty trees of life grow
     Thank you, said the child
     Thank you, said the mother
     Thanks you, said the Light of the World

Click on the file below to listen to the recording of the poem:
plant_a_seed.m4a
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Theresa Tull McGinnis is a retired Special Education educator in New Jersey.  She writes poetry and wants to be a kind of counter-balance to the hate in the world.  “If the world is getting meaner, I’m going to be nicer,” is one of her favorite things to say. ​

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Poem by Mark Fishbein

12/31/2021

1 Comment

 
Land of Gourmet Popcorn

The great Sahara is spreading south
like a dry cancer, to Senegal;
the wells have deep coughs,
the river basins drained of crops,
as herders sell their skinny goats.
The TV fills with lean faces of the elders
and the swollen bellies of children.  
Soon there will be nothing to sell or salvage
but the howling of hunger.

We watch the evening news, 
with fist fulls of flavored popcorn-
glazed florescent colors of the day-
tutti fruiti, cherry-papaya 
raspberry-lime passion fruit,
fresh from the gourmet popcorn display.

“What can we do, what can be done?
We give to the church and to charities.
Are we to fertilize the parched sands?
Can we hold the desert back?
Forgive us for the limits of our giving.
Forgive us for not crying as you wail, 
forgive us, forgive us for living well,
forgive our shallow hopes and prayers. 

After the annoying jingles for shampoo, 
we go on to weather and sports,
our mouths occupied with popcorn,
to keep those extra pounds off.   

Click on the file below to listen to the recording:
mark_fishbein_gourmet_popcorn.mp4
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Mark Fishbein (poet with Guitar) is a poet musician now living in Chicago. He has several books including the most recent “Reflections in the Time of Trumpius Maximus” (Atmosphere Press).  Mark is Chancellor of PGN-Poetry Global Network’s  “The Poetry Academy”, a zoom event creator (Planet Poetry 28) and hosts 2 weekly poetry workshops.  As a musician, Mark often accompanies his readings with his eclectic classical guitar style.  Contact through website :  www.poetwithguitar.com

​

1 Comment

Poem by Linda Wolfe

12/31/2021

0 Comments

 
When the Hungry Sleep

​The hungry rest on tufts of pea green grass

beneath a sunset sky of cherry red;
evolves to berry blue as time does pass.
A mashed potato moon lights nature’s bed.
Some meteors streak silver through the night,
appear as schools of fish in unison.
The hungry gaze in awe for one last bite:
Could you, could I provide much more than one?

Let’s donate to some food banks, stop food waste,
grow healthy food on Mother Earth to eat.
Imagine plenty - food for all to taste
from nature’s palette plenty – what a feat!
The trees would clap when all are satisfied.
Please help us spread our message far and wide!

Video of the poem: https://youtu.be/yz-fOYXMuxE
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Following a three-decade K-8 art teaching career, Linda blogs at https://Linda-M-Wolfe.com. She and her husband thrive in living amongst the rural, open expanses of nature in southwest Iowa, observing and listening for the lessons to be learned.

​

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Poem by Sistah Joy

12/29/2021

0 Comments

 
When / Photo Op


When will it become innate instinct
Natural reflex, impulse without variation
To respond when we see others in need?
When does that part of humanity’s DNA
Finally say “I will do this
Because it’s right
Because it’s reprehensible not to?”
When will age, race, region or religion
No longer be deciding factors?
For all the pleas on late night TV,
All the bloated bellies,
Skeletal shoulders and limbs
So graphically portrayed
Those piteous scenes

Of starving children
Who must, at best,
Wait until photographers

Capture their shots
Before they can eat,
The point seems
To have been missed

Or perhaps, it’s more
One of marketing choice
That starving children
Standing, squatting, crying
Make more evocative photos

Than those of starving children
Being fed. 

Youtube video of the poem: https://youtu.be/WNiQtolQqgM
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Sistah Joy is the inaugural Poet Laureate of Prince George's County, Maryland and has served as President of the Poetry Ministry of the Ebenezer A.M.E. Church Poetry Ministry in Fort Washington, Maryland for 18 years.  She is the author of 3 collections of poems, Lord I'm Dancin' As Fast As I Can; This Garden Called Life; and From Pain to Empowerment - The Fabric of My Being.  She can be reached at her website, https://www.sistahjoy.com. 

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Poem by Anna Mioduchowska

12/29/2021

2 Comments

 
Spacious Heart
for Shirley Ross, 1953-2020, one of the founders and long-time volunteers of the Green and Gold Community Garden

It takes a spacious heart to make room  
for strangers.

It takes god-like vision to look at a soggy field
and see a garden fruitful enough 
to nourish their dreams.

It takes a well-provisioned mind
to cultivate a successful union of hands, 
of soil and seed, no matter the clay, 
the rocks earth coughs up after months of freezing,
the barnyard grass, the sow thistle, 
no matter the beetle, the worm, 
the weather.   

It takes fearless shoulders to pick up 
a shovel every spring and lead the troops
into the sweetest battle on earth.

It takes a gentle tongue.   

Note about the Poem -- Green and Gold Community Garden is an unusual and heady community of women and men in Edmonton, Canada, which grows and sells produce to support Tubahumurize, in Kigali, Rwanda, a non-profit women’s organization which helps victims of violence and marginalization.
Click on the file below to listen to the poem:
spacious_heart_by_anna_mioduchowska.m4a
File Size: 1931 kb
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Anna Mioduchowska’s poetry, poetry translations, stories, essays and book reviews have appeared in several anthologies and literary journals, and have aired on the radio. She has published two poetry collections: In-Between Season and Some Souls Do Well in Flowerpots. She lives and writes in Edmonton, Canada, and spends her free time working at the Green and Gold Community Garden.

2 Comments
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    About

    The poems that follow are powerful evidence that Poetry Speaks Back to Hunger!

    They were submitted to the 2021 World Food Day Special Call for Poems from North American Poets.  Several of these poems will be showcased in the coming weeks by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and the Capital Area Food Bank.  

    Thanks to poets Josephine LoRe (Alberta, Canada), Brian Donnell James (Virginia, USA) and Martiza Rivera (Maryland, USA) for helping to assess the poems.  Thanks also to Rebecca Roach for donating nearly 1200 tree seedlings on behalf of the poets who submitted work.  And, a big thanks to poet Aaron R who helped to administer the Special Call. ​

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  • Home
  • Art Auction to Alleviate Hunger
  • Hunger Poetry
    • Hunger Poems
    • World Food Day Poetry Competition >
      • 2021
      • 2020
      • 2019
      • 2018
    • Maryland Poets
    • International Poets
  • About
    • About the Initiative
    • Initiative Founder
    • Advisory Board
  • 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