Ode To Victor Hugo (6) 'the Miserable' -The Suffering Of The Poor) Poem by Freeyad Ibrahim

Ode To Victor Hugo (7)
(The Miserable -the suffering of the poor)
Poem by: Freeyad Ibrahim
**
When hunger struck
I visited some poor quarters
in the outskirts of my city.
Victor Hugo wrote in 'The Miserable'
The scenes of poverty filled me with anguish
The poor families: old women and young children
Living in those hovels, old shacks
The fevers and maladies
Peasants did not even possess barrows
But carried the dung on their backs
They burned twigs. No fuel, oil was available
What a pity!
All of them were Hunger beaten
They made bread every three months,
baking it over a fire of dried dung
The bread became so hard in winter
They had to break the loaves with an axe
They soaked the bread for 12 hours
before it could be eaten

Inspired by the Giant Hugo, I write:
When hunger bites old and young
Nothing is heavier than empty pots
on the heads of the hungry.
It is a malady not a sweety song
When Hunger bites,
all human values shrink
You need nothing when thirsty
More than the 'value' to drink
Hunger gives you might
To revolute over daytime
But usurps you from sleep at night.
*
Freyad Hugo
Heerenveen
June,2020