What's For Lunch? Poem by Roger Naya

It's ten past noon,
he lays there on his couch.
Watching television,
empty stomached.

It's thursday afternoon,
six thousand kilometers away.
She sits by her toy rock,
starved, and dehydrated.

He picks up the remote,
changes channel.
His stomach gently grumbles,
What's for lunch? he wonders.

Temperature rises past thirty-five
She fiddles with the dirt.
Her stomach endlessly roars
What's for lunch? she dreams.

Thrity minutes later
the doorbell rings.
He picks up his twenty
and pays the delivery man.

Sixty seconds later,
a beetle crawls by
she springs to her feet.
and thanks her lord

He wipes his greasy mouth
on his sleeve
and leaves his unfinished grub
and falls asleep.

She enjoys her lunch
but feels very weak.
sick and tired
she falls asleep

Two hours later
he is awakened by thunder.
throws out his leftovers
and begins to read the news.

Two minutes later
she is drenched by rain,
she looks at the sky
and opens her mouth with a smile.

He puts down the paper,
and finally gets up
to cook his next meal.
What's in the fridge? He thinks.

She shivers in the rain,
orphan, and deseased
she walks towards some foiliage.
I am safer now. She hopes.

He ends his meal,
and leaves his house.
Climbs into his truck
and drives off to a bar.

Now the rain has stopped,
she prays and kisses her rock
and falls asleep.
wet, frail, poor, hungry.

Midnight, he arrives
back to his cozy home,
and falls asleep.
Warm, wealthy, happy, full.

Nothing awakes her,
her stomach painfully growls.
She takes one last breath,
but too weak for one more.

The alarm clock awakes him
It's nearly eleven,
getting out of bed he wonders
what's for lunch?








Written to raise awareness of the causes of starvation around the world, and how priviledged some countries are. This inequality should not exist.