Lizzie's Kitchen Poem by Sandra Martyres

is bare
nothing to cook
no LPG to keep the flame burning
with a cold and hungry look
children huddle there

Lizzie stops at the food stores
on one street
to buy
on credit
something to feed them

But storekeepers are blind
to her, are deaf
to her pleas, unconvinced
by her promises to repay.
They seem to forget the children
she speaks of are
not her own,
but other peoples’ children,
abandoned,
and wandering the streets.

but Lizzie will not give up
dismay on her face
she turns away
heading for the next street
hoping she will not meet
there
the same fate
to touch the right chords
and return home with something
for them to eat
this time
she begins a new refrain

who among you will watch
your children go to bed hungry
if you rich folks cannot and will not
then why should poor me be different