One hungry mama searches for food to feed her llama
One hungry mama doesn’t want to stir up drama
One hungry mama is well acquainted with the inverse relationship between generosity and riches
One hungry mama provides an elite service for the rich, but without pay
Don’t they know that everyday I work without pay, I drain what I have saved?
They know that I have my first baby on the way, they comment on my belly sway
For all their learnedness, don’t they know how to treat a human decently?
For all their pretending to care, don’t they care at all?
Every lowly job I worked before this one paid me in some way, even when I was being trained
One hungry mama couldn’t help but wonder if she might get paid if she wasn’t pregnant, or if she were a man
Avoiding paying me while working just to avoid paying me while I’m on maternity leave is a double-dick move, she couldn’t help but feel
One hungry mama has needs that are real
I don’t need much, but I need something to keep my family financially afloat
My man works, but he doesn’t save or provide for his family
Money drains out of his hands faster than it comes in, that is the way it has always been- he gives hefty donations each week to the church and those who ask him for help
Yet when I ask him how our own family will survive, he simply says, ‘God will provide’
I love him anyway, as irate as it makes me to witness his lifelong commitment to impoverishing himself unnecessarily
One hungry mama doesn’t know what to do, torn between the ideal of the quality of work she wants to deliver and the real quantity of money she needs to feel respected and to survive in this modern life
One hungry mama has trouble sleeping at night
Pressure piles on her, she is fixing to pop
One hungry mama wonders when her hunger will stop
One hungry mama considers taking on another job, even though her time and energy it will rob, even though the work is taxing and without break
One hungry mama waits for the light of day
Sage Burner Poetry 