Poetry X Hunger
  • 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

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
Picture
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

    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. ​

    Archives

    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021

    Poets

    All
    Anna Mioduchowska
    Anna Yin
    Antoni Ooto
    Aressa Williams
    Argos MacCallum
    Bartholomew Barker
    Bhikshuni Weisbrot
    Brenda Gunn
    Brittany Sabatino
    Buffy Aakaash
    Cindy M. Buhl
    Cleveland Wall
    Dan Bissonnette
    David Bartlett
    David Mook
    Diane Sahms-Guarnieri
    Diane Wilbon Parks
    Dianna L. Grayer
    Doris Diosa Davenport
    Eileen Trauth
    Eldon Winston
    Elijah Pringle
    Elizabeth Black
    Ellen Bass
    Faris Ahmed
    Gavin Barrett
    Grace Cavalieri
    Heather Meloche
    Heidi Mordhorst
    Henry Farkas
    Henry Victor
    Jamie Brown
    Janet Cannon
    Joan McNerney
    John Guzlowski
    John L. Dutton II
    Joseph Caperna
    Joyce Williams Graves
    Justin Johnson
    Keith Inman
    Laurel Chambers
    Lauren Camp
    Linda Fischer
    Linda Nemec Foster
    Linda Pastan
    Linda Wolfe
    Lori Heninger
    Margaret Patricia Eaton
    Marilyn Fishman
    Mark Fishbein
    Megha Sood
    Milton Carp
    Molly Ponkevich Burack
    Nityananda Khanal
    Patricia Trentacoste
    Patsy Asuncion
    Rg Cantalupo
    Richard Stukey
    Rosemary Klein
    Ryan Gibbs
    Sally Zakariya
    Sandra Rivers-Gill
    Serena Agusto-Cox
    Shan Overton
    Sharon Olson
    Sistah Joy
    Stewart Acuff
    Susan McMaster
    Sylvia Dianne Beverly Aka Ladi Di
    Teresa Méndez-Quigley
    Theresa Tull McGinnis
    Thomas Schuelke
    Waqas Rabbani
    Willeena Booker
    Wynne Morrison

    RSS Feed

Copyright PoetryXHunger 2022


Search the website:

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • 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