"Feeding Hunger"
How do we begin to justify
Hunger of the masses
When we have so much,
And so much is wasted?
My refrigerator is full
As is the pantry;
You can’t get another vegetable
Or pieces of fruit
Or box of cereal
On the shelves.
The children arrive
And know where to find
Juice boxes and bags of chips
To snack on.
The freezer is filled
With frozen bricks of various soups.
We could go, I estimate,
Six months without
Buying groceries.
We eat well
With little waste
But I was well trained
To economize.
Even so,
Much goes to waste
And I think about my mother’s warning
About the starving children
In Europe.
Now China
Or Asia
Or Africa.
Children have been starving somewhere
All of my life.
Yet
Farmers pour milk into ditches
And burn crops.
Feed the Hungry, we are urged.
Millions are at risk of Starvation. You can help.
Eighty Cents a Day can Change a Life forever.
Sponsor a child today!
And yet
Though I sponsor a child
And donate dollars to organizations,
Millions continue to starve
While farmers continue to destroy crops.
What difference will it make
If I throw out a crust of bread?
Who cares?
Who really cares?
-Sandra Lee Smith
I believe this poem has held the most meaning out of any of our readings this semester. I'm speechless after reading the lines:
ReplyDelete"If I throw out a crust of bread?
Who cares?
Who really cares"
Sandra Lee Smith did an excellent job depicting hunger in a way that could touch even the Grinche's heart.
This is probably one of the poems that we have read that actually is calling for a message. The message is asking for more people to step up and help those in need. The author says we are blessed and have access to so much food, yet people in third world countries are dying because of starvation. At the same time the author says that careless farmers are burning crops and putting milk in ditches, wasting valuable resources while everyone else is asked to help out more.
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