I am the Child, I am the Mother
Jul 28, 2021
Story
I am that child, with withered skin and bulging belly
And sunken eyes too weak to look at mama
I am that child, who’s angry at my papa
For coming home empty-handed again
I am that child, whose mother cannot look in the eye
For fear of the desperation so often displayed there
With no food to quieten it
I am that child, who wanders from home to home at mealtimes
Hoping to be offered a bite
I am that child, who punches down her grumbling stomach
To ease the pain of hunger
I am that child, who digs my wild fruits into the ground,
Lest I be forced to share them with siblings
I am that child, who’s too weak from hunger
To attempt the half - hour walk to school
I am that child, who’s dribbling over my desk
Mouth muscles too fatigued
To hold in the saliva
I am that child, for whom teachers have pulled bits of their lunches together
My survival being crucial
To raise my grade’s mean grade in the division exams
I am that child, who dropped out of school
To slave for food to eat
And feed my siblings
I am that child in conflict zone
Running for peace, security
Running into hunger
Without an income, without prospects
My health and survival depend
On others’ generosity
I am that child
And today I look into my child’s motionless eyes
The flies hover and feast on her dripping saliva
She having not strength enough to swat them
As she lifts her eyes to meet mine
I hear the same silent accusation I uttered many a times
When the fireside remained cold night after night
“Mama, when will I eat?”
I shudder under that mournful gaze
For the first time I enter my mother’s grief
And feel her despairing hope
Turned towards a world too absorbed in calories
To empathise
I am that child, and for the sake of my child
I turn my eyes towards our world of plenty
In hope she'll change our story
In hope she'll share her calories
And give herself and us a chance,
At well-being
Poem Inspiration:
Economic inequalities exposed by Covid-19.
Some in the world are 'suffocating' in calories, complaining of how much they're eating and gaining weight in quarantine and making food out to be an enemy.
Others are hungry and starving.