Poem by Sally Zakariya

A Plague of Hunger

America’s apple pie and waves of grain
should nourish all, but plague and poverty
leave bellies empty.

Cars line up for bags of groceries
handed safely through the window
mask to mask.

The virus may be on the wane,
but folks still out of work still wonder
where dinner will come from.

Time was the kids got one good
meal at school each day –
before learning went online.

Hunger lurks everywhere – country,
suburb, city – here in our land of plenty,
here where the rich get richer.

The famished yearn for sustenance,
for comfort and contentment.

​Why can’t their plates be full?

Sally Zakariya’s poetry has appeared in some 75 print and online journals and been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net. Her most recent publication is Muslim Wife (Blue Lyra Press, 2019). She is also the author of The Unknowable Mystery of Other People, Personal Astronomy, When You Escape, Insectomania, and Arithmetic and other verses, as well as the editor of a poetry anthology, Joys of the Table.

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