For dVerse Poets Pub, https://dversepoets.com/2020/07/21/poetics-revolution/ Merrill is prompting us to write of revolution – societal, spacial, whatever. When I think of revolution, I think: 35 million people in the U.S. are hungry or don’t know where their next meal is coming from, and 13 million of them are children. …
The Real Revolution
“There are people in the world so hungry, that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread.” ― Mahatma Gandhi
Have you ever been hungry?
I don’t mean, skip a meal hungry,
diet hungry,
need a snack hungry,
do a day’s work hungry,
I mean:
a smell makes you salivate
because you haven’t had a meal in several days hungry,
making that 66 cent loaf of bread last a week hungry
because that is all you have for the week,
I mean splitting the can of soup six ways
to feed your family hungry,
I mean, giving the last bit of beans
to your child hungry,
I mean, not knowing where your next meal
is coming from hungry,
I mean looking at people eating
with our heart in your mouth hungry
and you haven’t had food in three days.
I mean living off water hungry.
The real revolution will be
when no no one or no thing goes to
bed hungry.
kanzen sakura 
Jul 21, 2020 @ 15:57:16
I’m so pleased to see you here, Toni–and you are so right. Most of us have never experienced this–or even think about it. Thank you for the reminder.
Jul 21, 2020 @ 15:59:03
Thank you Merrill. I have been this hungry in my lifetime. It is a lesson I carry with me always.
Jul 21, 2020 @ 16:56:34
I want to applaud this.
Jul 21, 2020 @ 17:00:06
Powerful. Powerful. Powerful. No one should EVER experience this, but sadly, it happens around the world. You capture this passionately in your piece.
Jul 21, 2020 @ 17:53:22
As a former chef, and lover of Anthony Bourdain, this poem could have been one of Tony’s epilogues for an episode of his show. I admired his revolutionary spirit and heart, and yours.
Jul 21, 2020 @ 20:26:47
Wow! This is a most powerful statement and the images make us live it as you describe! That would be the best revolution of all! Well done!
Jul 21, 2020 @ 22:43:10
Powerful!!! The description makes my stomach churn (because for a lot of people this is still their reality).
Jul 22, 2020 @ 03:29:16
We could do it now. That’s the truth. But the powerful own the bakery. This is a poem to absorb, not to read over glibly. Thank you for sharing, and it’s good to see you here.
Jul 22, 2020 @ 06:09:11
I’m so glad to see you back at the pub, Toni, and that you have posted such a potent poem. It’s hard to believe that so many can go hungry in one of the richest countries in the world but, as Sarah said, the powerful own the bakery. The repetition of the word ‘hungry’ really drives the message home, and the lines:
‘I mean looking at people eating
with our heart in your mouth hungry’.
Jul 22, 2020 @ 12:00:53
Ah, you are telling it true………….I love the closing lines. If that day were to come, peace would finally prevail. Lovely to see you writing, Toni.
Jul 22, 2020 @ 13:19:23
Our world could feed everyone if we had the will…that is what is so heartbreaking. (K)
Jul 22, 2020 @ 17:47:38
The only thing we’d have to change is our mind(s).
Jul 22, 2020 @ 18:15:53
And our hearts.
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Aug 14, 2020 @ 09:04:01
and our hearts
Jul 24, 2020 @ 20:09:23
A powerful truth written here. It provokes much thought.
Nov 29, 2020 @ 08:49:43
There is deep truth here in a world full of need. Thank you for writing.
Nov 29, 2020 @ 12:59:29
Thank you for reading. It means a lot.
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