Made Famine

I sit watching the news  
with tea in hand.  
Surplus food. And I despair.  
Man-made hunger: ribs like xylophones, crushed.  
Reaching for food, they are fed bullets.  
A child, just looking for bread.  
Warnings that neither warn nor miss.  
A kilo of flour costs a life.  
Doctors die—from hunger, or from trying to feed it.  
Humanity: misplaced.  
This is what grief has carved into the world.  
Overcrowded. Airless. No refuge.  
Aid centres that don’t aid.  
The dead don’t get labelled.  
Food rots at the border while the world watches.  
Months of meals sit still.  
A ceasefire whispers.  
A spine: a skeleton curled like a fetus.  
Mother made family made famine.  
Hate is inherited, spoon-fed to children with dust and grief.  
And I sip my tea.  
It tastes like shame.  
But hunger is louder—  
and one voice raised  
might ignite others.
Copyright © | Year Posted 2025

Poem

Post Comments

Poetrysoup is an environment of encouragement and growth so only provide specific positive comments that indicate what you appreciate about the poem. Negative comments will result your account being banned.

Please Login to post a comment

Be the first to comment on this poem. Encourage this poet.

Get a Premium Membership
Turn off ads, get more exposure for your poetry, and get more features with a Premium Membership.
Book: Diverse Voices: The Poetry of Human Rights and the Pursuit of Peace