Have you ever known hunger? Have you ever chosen to feed a child instead of eat? When did you last know aching emptiness that lasted days? Millions of children in the U.S. go hungry daily, many more throughout the world while billionaires steal the food from their mouths to buy yachts, huge mansions, fancy cars, private jets, and their own Congressmen. We subsidize the very rich who eliminate jobs, bust unions, ruin cities, devastate education, neglect infrastructure, and take away your right to vote. What they squander on one meal at a fancy restaurant could feed a poor family of four for a month or more. But, they begrudge the working poor, the disabled, and the unemployed whose jobs they stole, a few hundred to spend at the discount grocery store to stop the rumbling in their young children's empty bellies. Forget about nutrition that's an unaffordable luxury available only to those deemed worthy: those who got rich taking from the public coffers, building their wealth with government-paid subsidies and government funded airports, roads, and ports. They pocket their tax breaks and complain about "handouts" and nonexistent welfare queens. Walk a few miles in a poor man's shoes and skip eating for a day or three. Try finding a job when you're dizzy with hunger. Give your meal to a child who only eats at school and goes without on weekends.
First published in Subversive Verse October, 2014
©2014 F.I. Goldhaber
All rights reserved
The BeZine 