HAIKU DIALOGUE – Social Issues – Poverty and Hunger

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1. I am really appreciating this series of haiku. So many writers are rising to the challenge with superb poems. Kudos to Lori for selecting and collating them. Thanks also for including mine.

2. Thank you so much, Lori, for choosing to comment on my senryu. I especially appreciate what you had to say about the childish games we play and the way we avoid taking adult responsibility for their outcome. Other ideas behind my poem include the fact that 97% of those on Pine Ridge Reservation live BELOW the Federal Poverty line, and of course the government-sanctioned wholesale and deliberate slaughter of the American Bison in an effort to starve the Plains tribes they sustained. The sole remaining herd of pure-blood Bison in North America reside in Yellowstone National Park; all the rest we encounter are the result of crossbreeding with cattle.

   A few more poems that really broke my heart:
   *
   charity
   how hard it is
   to ask
   *
   Debbie Strange
   *
   —What a sad statement, that our society shames those who ask for help, when it takes such strength and courage to do so. A powerful and elegant capture of this pathetic predicament.
   *
   harvest moon –
   in the beggar’s hat
   just a coin
   *
   Daniela Misso
   *
   —I can’t help seeing the way the biggest, most beautiful orange moon of the season is reduced to a mere copper coin here. That is how much poverty can damage even our perspective.
   *
   refugee food camp
   a child picks breadcrumbs
   from the ant holes
   *
   Hifsa Ashraf
   Pakistan
   *
   —This image is absolutely devastating. I am imagining the ants boiling up to defend their crumbs from those little fingers. Just astounding the lengths to which hunger can drive us.
   *
   spring water
   thin soup stretched into
   another day
   *
   Michele L. Harvey
   *
   —“spring water,” which would normally denote cool and refreshing here just conjures inability to escape the cold outdoors. Not only is the soup stretched thin, but the days themselves. I find myself wanting to wander down to the spring with fresh vegetables and herbs to enrich this humble meal.
   *
   thanksgiving volunteers
   feeding the homeless
   once a year
   *
   Laurie Greer
   Washington DC
   *
   —This poem makes me wince at the way we pat ourselves on the back for doing our annual good deeds, as though that temporary charity could make up for the other 364 days of suffering. I lived in D.C. for a couple years and I handed more than one of my packed lunches out my car window to homeless men on my way to work; it wasn’t enough.
   *
   homeless camp
   “Jesus Loves You”
   in the underpass
   *
   Garry Eaton
   *
   Living near Colorado Springs as I do, this poem hits close to home. We are surrounded on all sides by self-proclaimed Christians who race to pass legislation outlawing the homeless. First they cleared the camps from along Fountain Creek, so as not to upset the tourists. Then they made it illegal to sit on the sidewalk downtown, so as not to upset the locals. All while driving cars covered with Focus on the Family fish stickers and owning mountain vacation homes that stand empty 95% of the time. The combination of Garry’s last two lines really captures the true “spirit” of this “out of sight, out of mind” town: Jesus loves you—in the underpass.

   1. Thanks for all your comments and careful readings. I walk by a group of three or four homeless men on my way to work every day. One of them has been living on the streets around here as long as I can remember–20+ years. The sheer ability to survive is breathtaking–as is the way we let it go on and on.

      1. Hi, Laurie,
         *
         You know, the last three sentences you wrote about your experience with the homeless would be an excellent lead-in to a haibun or tanka prose. All you need is a haiku, senryu (or tanka):
         *
         “I walk by a group of three or four homeless men on my way to work every day. One of them has been living on the streets around here as long as I can remember–20+ years. The sheer ability to survive is breathtaking–as is the way we let it go on and on.”
         *
         ____________
         ________________
         _____________

         (________________)
         (________________)

         *
         😀 Autumn

   2. Thank you so much for this, Autumn, and for all your lovely commentaries. Thanks also to Lori, for curating this poignant collection. Wishing everyone a prosperous new year!

3. A thought-provoking collection. Like several others, I can relate to Kath-Abela’s sugar on wonder bread as a treat in childhood. The poem that struck me most was:

   whether Buddha or Jesus
   the laughter of crows
   in a failing crop

4. Thank you Lori for another thought-provoking collection. I have been enjoying your inclusion of ‘alternative’ micro poems. I found my mind wandering to this featured one a few times, considering the connections between poetry/haiku and poverty:
   .
   (PO)v(E)r(T)y
   Eileen Zhao (age 17)
   Los Angeles, California, USA
   .
   This haiku by Keith Beniston struck me as it weaves in the hidden suffering of women who cannot afford menstrual supplies:

   a box for monthlies
   next to the washing powder
   in the food bank box

   Keith Beniston

5. Each poem has its own power to tear at our heartstrings. These four really got to me:
   charity
   how hard it is
   to ask
   Debbie Strange

   thanksgiving volunteers
   feeding the homeless
   once a year
   Laurie Greer

   deserted, lonely
   she doesn’t know
   how to beg
   Dubravka Scukanec

   early morning
   how many bottles does it take
   for one lunch
   Aju Mukhopadhyay

   Sorry if I spelled the foreign names incorrectly!

   1. i THANK THE EDITOR FOR PUBLISHING MY POEM
      Hearty Thanks to Pat Davis also for publishing my poem but not the one marked. My poem is almost

      deserted, lonely
      she doesn’t know
      how to beg

      +

      1. So sorry for the mistake, Aju!

   2. Thanks so much, Pat. Written from experience, written from the heart. Wishing you a prosperous new year!

6. A thought provoking collection.

7. Thanks for such a stimulating dialogue Lori. I agree with you, Eva Limbach’s champagne haiku is ‘right on the money’ as the very appropriate saying goes.
   .
   Cheers, John

8. Thank you Lori for prompting us to take on this topic. I’ll mention these three which particularly affected me –
   .
   thanksgiving volunteers
   feeding the homeless
   once a year
   Laurie Greer
   .
   a shivering beggar
   emerges
   from his box
   Steve Tabb
   .
   halloween’s over
   a bag person empties
   the waste bin
   Marta Chocilowska
   – I found the description ‘bag person’ caught the way these people are dehumanised by society particularly well.

   1. Thank you very much, Mark for your comment! You have read my intentions perfectly.
      Best wishes,
      Marta

9. Lori, thank you for including one of mine, and especially for your incisive comments on your selected poems, always so heart-felt and thoughtful.
   .
   Thanksgiving, Harvest Festivals, Christmas, etc….these celebrations are laudable, rooted in ancient society’s need for cohesiveness, and, of course countering the depths of wintry darkness with cheer and gratitude. (If we can enjoy these times without creating a mass of waste in food, paper and plastics — so much the better. I give no excuse for being a partial ‘kill-joy’…Needs must, as they say.)
   .
   We do indeed tend/choose not to remember the reality for millions of others during the rest of the year. Nothing wrong with capitalizing on good times with adverts to remind us, as in Adrian Bouter’s:
   .
   donating for
   my conscience
   bus stop billboard
   .
   and Laurie Greer’s:
   .
   thanksgiving volunteers
   feeding the homeless
   once a year
   .
   The following says it straight, thank you Debbie:
   .
   charity
   how hard it is
   to ask
   .
   Debbie Strange
   .
   And so did this one, on a different wavelength because of its religious cynicism, and truly saddening because of its implied but understated reality:
   .
   whether Buddha or Jesus,
   the laughter of crows
   in a failing crop

   Andrew Riutta

   1. Thanks kindly, Ingrid. I appreciate your taking the time to mention my work. This is a deeply personal poem, and it touches me that it resonated with you. Wishing you a prosperous new year!

10. I participated but mine wasn’t selected this week, on the subject of having to choose food or pharmacy. It is something I see often. Even with insurance the cost of co- pays can be high.
    *
    sunday splurge
    we sprinkle sugar
    on wonder bread
    .
    Kath Abela Wilson
    .
    This one reminded me of my childhood. For my siblings and I it was Saturday mornings. I didn’t know anyone else did this. And the assonance of each word!
    *
    the bullied boy
    every day the same
    stained teeshirt
    .
    Roberta Beary
    .
    In re-reads the overlap of the second line stood out to me. Every day his situation is the same. Besides lack of a change of clothing there is obvious lack of parental attention, which is even harder to see the end of. Heartbreaking!
    *

11. The last line – “ once a year” – in Laurie Greer’s haiku expressed how little understanding some have of the daily needs of so many.

    thanksgiving volunteers
    feeding the homeless
    once a year

    Thank you for including my entry!

    1. Yes, exactly, Margaret–people who work with the homeless say they get more help than they need on Thanksgiving–it’s all the other days that they really need it. This kind of highly visible gesture has always reminded me of the way a lot of people go to church only on the major holy days and forget about it all otherwise.

       thanks so much for noticing the poem

12. a rich assortment of poverty poems hand-picked by lori a++++

13. This collection brings home the destitution and poverty from around the world. Well done to all.
    .
    landfill leftovers—
    the beggar
    gives way to the crows
    .
    Vincenzo Adamo
    .
    The amount of food waste goes to show many buy far too much for our needs, there is plenty for all, it just needs correct distribution.
    the beggar along with the mention of crows, I find ambiguous, and can be left for the reader to decide another reading of haves and have-nots.

    .
    Thank you for adding my verse to the mix, Lori.

14. Love seeing many great haiku and many friends!

    1. So glad you’re enjoying this, Linda!

       1. Thank you, a thousand times over, Lori, for showcasing the less “pretty” side of short-form poetry. Wishing you a prosperous and creative new year! blessings, Debbie

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