Food Insecurity

by Gary Beck / May 1st, 2016

An optimistic president
pledged to end child hunger
by the year 2015,
in time for his second term
in a diminishing office.
But hunger has grown
despite promises otherwise
in a rich, unequal land,
while millions of children
go to bed each night
inadequately fed,
and millions of adults
lack consistent access
to nourishing food.
Our glib politicians
coined a catchy phrase:
“Very low food security,”
which evades the reality
that people are hungry.

Gary Beck has spent most of his adult life as a theater director and worked as an art dealer when he couldn't earn a living in the theater. He has also been a tennis pro, a ditch digger and a salvage diver. His original plays and translations of Moliere, Aristophanes and Sophocles have been produced Off Broadway. His poetry, fiction and essays have appeared in hundreds of literary magazines and his published books include 40 poetry collections, 16 novels, 4 short story collections, 2 collection of essays and 8 books of plays. Gary lives in New York City. Read other articles by Gary.

This article was posted on Sunday, May 1st, 2016 at 8:02am and is filed under Poetry.