Food Stuffs

Ammunition for grim fairy tales;

The waxen light of hunger flares

Inside Kyiv cupboard,

Grenade in glass tumbler,

And a deadly sash,

On cabinet's door.

Arcane granaries,

Hewn in highest cliffs

By Fremont peoples,

Still contain baskets

Of corn set aside

For meagre seasons.

Starvation ancestries, famine genealogy;

Privation skeins through scenes

Sir Douglas Mawson,

Only survivor 

Of south-polar trek,

Hauled his wooden sledge

Across ice fields,

Reached Aladdin's Cave:

Deep-set grotto in snow,

Ladened with food stuffs.

Inside he beheld,

Three perfect oranges

And a pineapple.

Ammunition for grim fairy tales;

The waxen light of hunger flares

Refrigerator 

In Irpin, contents

Raided months ago,

Has IED wired

To its pallid door,

Freezer compartment

Stocks jars of nails

Ready to fly.

Starvation ancestries, famine genealogy;

Privation skeins through scenes

When Mawson saw fruits

In glacial cave,

He wept at the beauty

Of their colors.

Laura Stickney 2022

Notes:

Kyiv--Capital of Ukraine

Fremont peoples--An ancient culture living in area of Utah

1.000 years ago.

Sir Douglas Mawson--Australian Antarctic explorer. Led team 1911-1914.

Aladdin's Cave-- A cave filled with treasure, from Arabian Nights. A provisions depot

in Antarctica.

Irpin--A city in Ukraine

IED--Improvised explosive device

pallid--pale, dull

photograph by Laura Stickney