Devotional Poetry

Manna

Manna

1

Bread descends from heaven,
slice by slice into hungry crowds,
that wander blindly through nations.

2

The large eyed child
watches the horizon
knowing
that if the rice plane comes
she will eat today.

Ebony skin
stretched across her rib cage
creates
the xylophone of hunger.

starvation,
strikes each bar,
as the thin faced child
watches the horizon
knowing
that if the rice plane is shot down
she will die today.

3

O Lord, help us to hunger;
for the bread
of your new revelation.

4

The stage--
empty as the belly of a child--
is brightly lit.

Curtain shadows--
a rib cage
framing a child's protruding belly--
surround a stone wall.

Merchants
playing their trade--
speakers ascend wooden steps.

The key to unlocking
the mystery of starvation
is knowledge!

Famine--
a condition produced by natural disaster
(Is war a natural disaster?)--
is 10% of the hunger issue,
and treated with food.

Chronic hunger--
day-in-day-out can't get enough to eat--
is 90% of the problem,
which opportunity treats.

Poet's Note: ▼

I finished this on 1 Mulk 161 B.E. by combining four poems covering similar themes.