The billboard says that hunger is sometimes hard to notice By Emunah Garmaise

The billboard says that hunger is sometimes hard to notice

And I wonder, but is it? Is it not in the eyes? Could you not sense it in the dark?
The ad is about food insecurity, about noticing someone else’s lack and filling it,
And the avenue is thronged with a flush of tired traffic.
Watch out for the signs of hunger, it read.
It may not be who you expect it to be, it did not.
Aren’t we all hungry for something? – the will to try again? To be seen, heard,
Touched? For our pain to be noticed? To belong? To not feel alone in the crowd?
For a moment of solitude? To be cherished?
Is it difficult to recognize, or are our eyes just sealed shut
Like a hiding dog, its ignorance
Illusory protection?

By Emunah Garmaise

Biography

Emunah Garmaise is a poet, mental health advocate, and writer for The Ruth Project, a gender equity organization.

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