Patsy Asuncion
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Poetry X Hunger
Drive-By
Cars insulate,
cut fast getaways
from street people who provoke guilt
with hunger that angers
well-behaved routines.
The Voiceless crouch clean forgot
in fast-paced apathy, marooned
with crude cardboard confessions,
dismissed by dog-eat-dog drivers
who insist hungry is a hustle.
Unlike corner beggars,
homeless women and kids run
from street corner scrutiny scramble
for anonymous shelter
from hit-and-run humanity.
Outside White are welcome.
Dirt-colored rags and races
are deprived in ditches –
failed schools, prisons, slums, colored walls.
The tired, the poor, the huddled masses
yearning to breathe free,
the wretched refuse and homeless…
welcomed by the Statue of Liberty
no longer wanted.
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Patsy Asuncion
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Poetry X Hunger
November 7, 2021
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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.
Hiram Larew, Poetry X Hunger Founder
