We are asked to accept half a loaf—
And to Pay for that loaf by waiting for
The other half to be distributed in Crumbs
Over a hard and protracted winter of Injustice—²
I snatch what I eat from the Starving, and my glass of water
Belongs to one Dying of Thirst—and yet I eat and drink—³
There’s more Hunger in those eyes
Than we can fill with all our food.⁴
When you are Hungry—learn to eat
Whatever Sustains you until morning.⁵
No Breakfast had she many a morn, no Dinner many a noon,
And ‘stead of Supper she would stare full hard against the Moon—⁶
If the Salt have lost his saltness, wherewith
Will ye Season it? Have salt in Yourselves.⁷
I am Fasting for the complete
Obliteration of the entire bourgeois class!⁸
When we give food to the Poor they call us Saints, when we
Ask why the Poor have no food they call us Communists.⁹
Our Revolution is not explained by the Hunger
Of their masses—but by their thirst for Dignity!¹⁰
¹ Emily Dickinson, I Should Have Been Too Glad, I See
² Martin Luther King Jr., Why We Can’t Wait
³ Bertolt Brecht tr. Willett, Manheim, & Fried, To Those Born Later
⁴ Octavia Butler, Parable of the Sower
⁵ Audre Lorde, For Each of You
⁶ John Keats, Meg Merrilies
⁷ Mark 9:50 (King James)
⁸ Arundhati Roy, The Ministry of Utmost Happiness
⁹ Dom Hélder Câmara, When I give food to the poor
¹⁰ Juan José Arévalo, Speech on Labor