Poem by Stewart Acuff

THE EMPTY BELLY MOANS

​It's a long time from school lunch till breakfast the next day
When every weekday you gotta wait
No meat, no protein at home
At night hunger makes your stomach grumble and groan
Trying to sleep, the empty belly moans
Only food in the house cereal, crackers and baloney
Hard as you try, you can't fill up your belly
Your brain loses focus in a fog, hunger weakens the body
School work impossible, lost opportunity
Another life sinking in cruel, unending poverty.

Stewart Acuff spent a 40-year career as a union and community organizer. Now retired he writes poetry in West Virginia. He publishes frequently including three books of his poems.

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