“Fighting Hunger One Poem at a Time” – Poet Willeena Booker

This is an article about hunger and poetry – two topics that may not seem related at all.  But, if you are willing to read a bit further, you’ll hopefully be convinced otherwise.

Hunger is everywhere.  It’s in our neighborhoods, on our campuses, throughout our farming heartland, and in our towns and cities.  Yes, it’s in every nook and cranny of our country.  It’s also rampant around the world.  COVID- caused disruptions to food streams and incomes has extended hunger’s reach.  Worldwide, 40% of our fellow humans face hunger – that’s about 3 billion people (Source: United Nations).  Similar statistics are also available for most zip codes in the U.S. thanks to the important work of Feeding America.

For as long as poetry has been written, it has roused public support for social causes.  One of the most widely known contemporary examples of such powerful work is Emma Lazarus’s poem, The New Colossus, which was enshrined in 1903 on a bronze plaque at the base of The Statue of Liberty.  Its clarion call to the “huddled masses” of immigrants has stood as our country’s prideful welcome to any and all ever since.  And, I dare say, the poem has helped to shape our Country’s immigration policies.   

Yes, poetry can stand up and speak out.    

So, how about poetry of hunger?  Well, Basho’s haunting haiku from nearly 500 years ago notwithstanding (Quote by Bashō: “For a lovely bowl Let us arrange these flowers….” (goodreads.com), until recently very few poems about hunger of the stomach have been available.  This lack of inventory is why I founded Poetry X Hunger – to encourage poets from near and far to write about hunger.  

Poets have responded!  Using special calls and contests, we now have more than 300 poems by poets from many countries and of all ages posted on the Poetry X Hunger website. Nutrition, famine, food waste, health and well-being, sustainable agriculture and historical hunger are just some of the topics covered.  And, many of the poems are accompanied by recordings of the authoring poet wonderfully reading her/his poem.  There are also a few poems in other languages including Cheyenne.  And here’s the kicker — All of the poems are freely available for use so long as the authoring poet is acknowledged.

To make it easy for anyone to find useful poems, we’ve published a selection of them in an e-book. It’s available free-of-charge on the front page of the Poetry X Hunger website.  Check it out!  In fact, here’s what Irish Poet, Deirdre McGarry says about the e-book– What makes this [collection] intriguing is that hunger is a universal basic urge which rears its head for every human being every few hours. And every one of these poems from so many different writers addresses it in a fresh way, so that the reader thinks anew about it.

To give you an idea of what’s included in the e-book, here’s a sample from it.  I think you’ll agree that in this moving poem, the poet helps us to feel hunger’s pain.  

From the Balcony by Forestine C. Bynum from Maryland

Overlooking my balcony, I often saw

A gathering of women and children

Mothers with babies tucked tightly in their arms

They were quiet, rather orderly

Not causing a disturbance, walkers passed by politely

Busying themselves as not to see, scurrying to

Catch the bus or get to their cars

I saw women taking turns scavenging

Through a dumpster nearby

I hadn’t noticed before, for food

The only sound heard was a tiny cry asking

Mommy, when will we get food

And a voice saying, Feed My People, Feed My People

And a mother’s soft voice replying

Tomorrow, tomorrow my child, I hope

To mor row, to mor row

What more are we doing to bring poetry to the anti-hunger cause?  As much as we can!  In powerful partnership with the food banks, arts councils and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, Poetry X Hunger has ensured that poems like From the Balcony don’t just sit on the shelf.  Indeed, many have been showcased by anti-hunger leaders, community organizations, houses of worship, and countless teachers and professors to help reach all kinds of people.  We are also hosting online poetry readings and gatherings during which we raise funds for anti-hunger organizations.  And, of course, we’re making sure that Poetry X Hunger signs on to letters that urge Congress to keep fighting hunger.   

In addition, food banks are picking up on poetry as well.  They are establishing Poet-in-Residence programs as a way to wave the poetry flag.  The poems that result from such residencies are being used in food banks’ messaging campaigns and outreach programs.  

And, very recently, with an eye on the role that all of the Arts can play in the anti-hunger cause, we’ve begun to collaborate with groups like AgArts and The Poartry Project.  The resulting partnerships between visual artists and poets are bursting with creativity.  Watch for the forthcoming artwork – it may be offered for auction on the Poetry X Hunger website with proceeds benefiting the artists and anti-hunger causes.     

Will poetry end hunger?  Of course, it won’t.  Can it help fight hunger?  Indeed, it can!  Poetry moves people to take action.  It can speak to the heart and even change minds.  So, if you want to take up a pencil or pen, consider writing a poem and submitting it to Poetry X Hunger (see the submission guidelines on the website).  We’d welcome you to the cause. 

What better way to close this article than to share a poem by a teenager in Honduras?  She wrote it in Spanish and her teacher kindly translated it into English. The complete poem is on the Poetry X Hunger website.  But, here is the closing stanza of Hambre (Hunger) by Heyssel Mariel Molinares Sosa.  

¿En verdad creen que esto se debe tomar a la ligera?

¿Ignorar a la persona que en agonía desespera?

Alimento limpio, nutritivo y seguro,

no es una opción, es un derecho.

Que sean atendidas las personas en apuro

Y que no solo sea una promesa, sino un hecho.

Levántense, gigantes que duermen al ver la necesidad.

Que se acabe ya la falta de comprensión y crueldad.

Que sean atendidos los sollozos de este pueblo

Dios interviene para que haya un arreglo.

Así que seamos consientes y ayudemos a todo el que podamos 

en esta tierra,

y juntos contra el hambre, ganemos esta guerra.

Do you really think this should be taken lightly?

Ignore the person in agony in despair?

Clean, nutritious and safe food,

It is not an option; it is a right.

That people in distress be cared for

And that is not just a promise, but a fact.

Arise, giants who sleep when you see the need.

Let the lack of understanding and cruelty come to an end.

Let the sobs of this town be attended to

God intervenes so that there is an arrangement.

So let’s be aware and help everyone we can on this earth,

and together against hunger, let’s win this war.

 Here are some links to resources of organizations and programs that are fighting hunger wherever it occurs.   

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