The Famine

• Lawren Asamoah, Grade 12
• Poetry
• 2013

The harsh cry ?It breaks me in two
As I hear what must be
The sound of hunger?
My body trembles 
As I feel the insistent pressure
A yearning
For sustenance

A desire for something
I simply cannot provide
For months I laboured
Walked and searched

Yet I find no reprieve
Days I felt the blossom of life
Within the depths of my womb
Beating 

For hours I suffered and wept
Knowing that fate-
laughing at my despair
-Would show me no kindness

My child will face the same as many
To pass before seeing the first dawn 
The ground will never kiss 
Nor darken the supple skin

Light will never touch those eyes
And the words I so crave
Will never form
“Mama” will never be my crown

Kissing my child 
One who will never truly be
I bow my head in quiet acceptance
Letting my tears run free

As the famine claims me