They hold up their beaten, wooden bowls,
Their eyes are longing,
Their bellies are starving.
We pour the rice,
Grain by grain,
Into their little bowls.
They whisper a soft thanks,
And our eyes fill with tears.
As we look at their bodies,
Their ribs protruding
Their cheeks and eyes sunken in.
We become aware,
Of the hunger in our world,
The starving children,
The orphans and the homeless.
As we take our lives for granted,
They take a single grain of rice with love.
As we sit down for dinner,
They go to sleep hungry.
And if we did more for them,
Less people would go hungry,
And more families could be happy,
Unlike the starving children of Germany.
COMMENTS:
This painting, The Starving Children of Germany, by Kathe Kollwitz, inspired this poem.
