The Color of Hunger

I dream...

The soft whiteness
of bread is my canvas.
I splash it with the brown
of peanut butter and
streak it with
the grape of jelly.
A masterpiece!

I awake...
My art forgotten,
I shudder in the chilled
midnight, pull a ragged
blanket up to my chin,
and fall back to sleep.


I dream again...

Green beans dance
with bright orange
baby carrots.
With a silvery fork
they are swept from
the dance floor and
replaced with dark
chocolate fudge
in limbo...

I awake...
In the middle of the night,
surrounded by trash cans,
and cardboard houses.
The rainbows of my dreams
erased by empty,
gnawing blackness
and I feel
the color of hunger.