Hunger

is a baby bird,
a swallow
screaming for dinner,
its beak wide open,
a black hole
ready to swallow
its mother whole.

The raging acid ocean
gripes and grumbles,
piranha enzymes frenzied
by the food that tumbles
down the open gullet.

But oh, the satisfaction
of the elephantine belly,
the joy of different flavours
that coat the tongue
and tease the gustatory cortex,
a sweet and savoury tango
before the chemistry of digestion.

Kim M. Russell, 19th August 2020

Image by 42 North on Unsplash

My response to Poets and Storytellers United Weekly Scribblings #33: “swallow screams for dinner”

Magaly is back with a prompt after an interesting week. She says that today’s prompt is based on a line from a poem by Chrissa Sandlin. We are invited to write new poetry or prose which includes the phrase “swallow screams for dinner”, which Chrissa has given permission for us to use.  We may change the verb’s tense, but the rest of the phrase should remain intact.

Also linked to Open Link Night at the dVerse Poets Pub on 29th August 2024.

54 thoughts on “Hunger”

  1. I am quite happy to eat most things but to imagine the workings of my gut are of little interest as it would reduce the amount of satisfaction of poppong it in in the first place!

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    1. Robin, you’d really hate my nutritional life then. I spend a lot of my day making sure my digestive system does what it’s supposed to with food. I am very happy that I enjoy the learning process, but I have a lot of friends that need to keep a close eye on digestion and, like you, feel the whole thing takes away from the joy of eating–their lives are not easy.

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  3. I agree with Rosemary–that’s quite clever! So is the contrast between primal hunger and simple satisfaction. What a luxury it is to be satisfied than merely not hungry anymore.

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  4. To echo Rosemary’s and Rommy’s thoughts, love your clever word usage. It made me smile. Not just because I could picture the sparrow chicks so well–your poem describes their “Feed me! Feed me! Feed ME!” so well–but also because I so love seeing digestion turned to poetry. I love the ease of your lines, their powerful imagery, the beauty your ink injects into biology.

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      1. I love it!

        By the way, at the moment there is a sparrow youth in training in my wee garden. The mother has been trying to teach it to get to the feeder on its own. But it keeps on begging. And not just to its mother, but to any bird that visits the feeder. It’s cute, and extremely entertaining.

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  6. The ramifications and restrictions of satisfying modern hunger have become SO complicated. How does one prepare a meal for a family gathering that includes a diabetic, a “chronie”, a vegan, a carnivore, a PKU one, a keto one, and a celiac Somehow grandma just cooked, and everyone feasted, enjoyed, and dealt with it! SIGH

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  10. We had 3 open-gaped hatchlings in the small red maple just off the porch & we spent a cool couple of weeks watching mama puke out those half-digested bugs & worms.

    Love this piece, KR.

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  20. What a sensual description of the whole chemistry of eating! I love these lines:

    “a sweet and savoury tango
    before the chemistry of digestion.”

    Your interpretation of the prompt “Swallow screams for dinner” is so fitting 🙂

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  23. How adorable is that picture! Yes, that cry for food, I hear it in the spring when the nests are busy and occupied. You really described that end-of-the-world sound that those babies shriek until they are fed by mama. I loved the penultimate line “a sweet and savoury tango” ☺️

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  24. Thanks so much for sharing this poem of yours, Kim! I’d hesitate to call digestion “beautiful” in any form or context, but I really appreciate how the hard ‘g’ sounds of your well-chosen words—“gripes and grumbles,” “open gullet,” “gustatory cortex”—make the process tangible, even rhythmic.

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  25. I love the raging acid ocean that gripes and grumbles…can so relate to this. A very clever and interesting poem, I think I will be thinking on this acid ocean grumbling whenever I see the little birds calling for food. 🙂

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