Hunger games..

Nothing to eat or drink,
rations depleted -
perhaps a kind farmer's 
wife nearby
would offer goat's milk,  
porridge or potatoes with rye
 ..to soak in water from a pump -
life savers for fatigued men 
miles from home, 
bombs burst in air 
Veterans' Day, D-day
old movies play,

Soldiers gone to battlefields 
on the other side of the globe, 
where every day 
futures end in hunger, 
of aids, or war 
thirst for a free land - 
Somalia...not even 
stone soup to survive..
days before they perish, 
less if dysentery, 
takes longer sometimes, 
to run a touchdown play 

Meager portions, 
not enough to go around;
nevertheless, 
a stranger can become a friend found
But for no good reason
they can't get away
..for lack of sustenance..

They used to say - all the rice in China,

was nourishment enough,
might even decide 
the outcome of a war

Sometimes life has little 
chance at all..doctors say 
when there's no appetite,

it takes time to die,

months, weeks, 
could be days, 
Pot eases the cancer,
hugs the pain,
but for no reason, it's kept away
A body tortured for days on end,
bleeds, swells.. it's too much
How do you measure life, 
a candle snuffed...
how many will die of old age..

A spider weaves for food,
a scorpion stings
In America, however, 
SOME sit daintily on pillows, 
dressed in lace, 
wearing fine hats...
unlimited food and drink
Do they know fasting..
of  Ramadan..
Do they think ...?  of scant
clothing or food of hungry babes?
The grapes of love wait..
to be picked and fed to all...
not politically withheld 
....for no good reason.




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