Hunger lies like trial by water,
Sorting the false beggars from the true.
The false beggars lean on their crutches.
The false beggars laugh at themselves.
Hunger is there to tell them:
“Close your eyes and face the sun.
That red you see is blood.”
So the false beggars close their eyes
And look at the inside
Of each of their eyelids in turn,
And they learn about the light
And how it got from the sun to their retinas,
Through the blood in their eyelids,
The tears in their eyes.
And after their lesson they come traipsing back
Like a spud rolling from its sack,
And Hunger sighs
And rolls his eyes.
