About Hunger

by nouriguess   May 25, 2014


The sky is clear, and on the sidewalk,
old men are playing backgammon.
The bazaar is always crowded. Beggars
are in their usual spots.
Schoolgirls
walk by schoolboys and never
reach home. Then
the sun goes down, and
everybody hurries to the mosques.
They leave their shoes and sins outside
and walk in, to pray. They pray
that when they go outside again, the
shoes will still be there, and
the sins will be gone.

The wretched prays for the king.
The farmer prays for the king.
Kids pray for the king, and tomorrow
at school, they'll be learning how to spell
the names of the kings family members and
how to paint his bearded face with chalks.
Their teacher, the prisoner, the prostitutes,
they all pray passionately
for the king.

And at night, when they're all hungry,
the king will throw to them some leftovers.

    report violation
4


Did You Like This Poem?

Latest Comments

  • 10 years ago

    by Maple Tree

    Noura has a gift within her writing to take you on a journey of pure brilliance in her poetry and this week she set the bar high in nominations this week.
    I was amazed at how she captured the true heartbreak of hunger, poverty, and devastation.
    The rage of politics are mixed within this piece and to me it is saying the "rich get fatter and the pour get thinner".
    It is a true outrage and Noura has elegantly expressed those thoughts and more within this piece.
    Her word usage and word display has me in awe!
    Admire this piece greatly!

  • 10 years ago

    by Cheeseburger

    What a great poem.

    I think it very heavily shows how falsely people idolize those who have authority or power, and how those in power, often treat those below them. Sorry for a compact review - responding from my phone, but I loved the ending to this as well.

  • 10 years ago

    by Darren

    Judges comments

    My first thought with this was that it doesn't feel like a poem, more like a piece of prose detailing the scene laid out before us. However after several reads I decided that this was worthy of least an HM purely because the scene setting and the descriptions are amazing. You feel like you are standing beside this person as you read. For that I commend you and thank you for sharing this. I love the last line as well. A real message about those that command and those that follow. 4 points.

  • 10 years ago

    by Exostosis

    Congratulations on the win. Very well deserved.

  • 10 years ago

    by Jyoti Rawat

    Hye

    It is very powerfull poem and very correct also but i don't get understand last word meaning her can u describe me ur line.

    The king will throw to them some leftovers.

Read All Comments (8)

More Poems By nouriguess