The Hunger

The hunger

Horrendous afternoon, breeze chose to be still
Dilapidated hut in the midst of the hill
Frail and fragile sat she at the threshold
Crying baby in lap about an year old
Both wrapped in rags covering their bony frame
Emaciated and starved, whose game to blame?
Small patch of green on which they grew little grain
Fell prey to pests and the failed rain
Her Man had left with a vow to return with food
Three months had elapsed, broken vow for no good
All these days, she with some hope, had waited
With dried tubers and kernels hunger demon satiated
Followed long week leaving empty- stomach, barren- hearth
Devastated she sobbed, Oh! Father, why such a birth?
Famished sans energy whenever she slipped into sleep
Ort and broken bread-crumbs in her dream creep  
Rumbled their stomachs like the mighty thunder
Nightmare all day showed this hunger monster......
His cruel voice, she heard him say, hey lady dare not gainsay
You are poverty-struck, helpless, I have shut all your way
He boasted, I am mightier than the prayers and stronger than all power
You better let me feast as I pounce on you both to devour
Imperious demon, I know for sure you won’t spare us, she said
I have failed as a mother to feed my child, I deserve to be dead
Weepy she said, I quit, I feel lost, I feel abandoned, I surrender
And prayed that this world be delivered from the pangs of hunger
Slowly, her child’s cry was embracing deafening silence
Tears kept flowing down, she was feeling fragile and lifeless
All of a sudden, she could see someone walk towards her
Her Man! Timely! words kept! Came like a saviour
Saved his lady and child from the draconian hunger!


©Copyright Anulaxmi Nayak, 2016

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