by design

hot, clear afternoon

spread in every corner

of the street

a hungry mom

buttering a slice of bread

for her child

the knife, the dollops, the slices

collected from places

the child’s stony eyes

looks at the sun

then stares at the actions

throws up

hunger has eaten his appetite

made him replete

takes the bread

throws up again

then chucks the piece in the sky

the slice falls

on the rooftop of an ngo

a crow

takes it in its paw

and flies

thanks to the butter, it slips

through the chimney

scrolls down in the cauldron

the surprised cook

preparing meal for poor children

tosses it from the window

it falls in the middle of two starving dogs

the stunning sun has stopped

the street looks like

a slice of buttered bread

twenty-four years ago
now
twenty-four years later
action stunned like the sun
poverty, starving, feeding

coexist, by design