We
supposedly have enough food to most of the world feed
Yet in rich
counties like Orange too many are not eating enough for basic caloric needs
In a nation
where the biggest problem seems to be diabetes and being grossly overweight
A quarter of
a million face the day with a real prospect of not enough food on their plates
Shortened in
body, racked by despair without hope and mental growth curtailed
When against
your will you are forced to play the Hunger Games in the game of life doomed to
fail
Rather than
wring hands and wail the problem is too difficult to even try to solve
Second
Harvest of Orange County is attacking the problem with rabid resolve
Food trucks
scour the homes, markets and restaurants for unneeded or soon to be tossed food
to collect
Supplemented
with cash and volunteer time donations to see that food needs are met
The Hunger Games and its sequel were as movies great hits
But if the
last of the trilogy is reality not a movie it is a scene for us of conscience not
fit
We may
survive without clothing and shelter in warmer climes
But without
enough food our departure is only a question of how brief will be our time
We cannot
while stuffing ourselves, fearful to step on the scales
Stand idly
by and close our ears to the hunger pang wails
So on a
Cinco de Mayo Saturday when most were in celebration high gear
Of chips and
guacamole washed down with margaritas and cold Corona or Pacifico beer
A band of
Stanford alums at the Second Harvest food bins early appeared
To move tons
of food from collection bins to crates to pallets to food distribution outlets
steer
Two to a
crate to fill to forty to fifty pounds of weight
Stacked five
high on the journey to someone’s half filled plate
A retired
parasite and poet with a microbiologist paired
Packing and
lifting so caloric Hope could soon by the hungry be shared
Hard work
almost like carrying and stacking 48 pound cases of salmon canned
But so
rewarding to make a dent in real Hunger Games in this land
On the Farm
it is said “The Wind of Freedom Blows.”
In Irvine at
Second Harvest it was said and acted “The Wind of Ending Hunger Blows.”
© May
6, 2018 Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet
Alaskanpoet
for Hire, Poems to Admire
Poet
Extraordinaire Beyond Compare
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