First, there were grapes
They picked under mama’s watchful eye
From the vine.
Second, jam
Stirred and boiled and sweetened with sweat
From mama’s brow.
Third, peanut butter
On bread with the jam
Every morning and evening.
Fourth, bread
With the jam, when the last spoon of peanut butter
Went to the youngest.
Fifth, jam
Measured into hungry mouths that prayed
For peace from the yawning of empty stomachs
Sixth, prayer.
Four little mouths became
Four grown mouths, each with
Two hands to work,
Strong minds to think,
And the unquenchable fear
Of hunger.
Our children will not starve, thirst.
We will die before our children cry.
but see the iridescence,
Formed under the pressure of want?
And here, we raise coal, to protect them
From the beauty, never broken through.
They picked under mama’s watchful eye
From the vine.
Second, jam
Stirred and boiled and sweetened with sweat
From mama’s brow.
Third, peanut butter
On bread with the jam
Every morning and evening.
Fourth, bread
With the jam, when the last spoon of peanut butter
Went to the youngest.
Fifth, jam
Measured into hungry mouths that prayed
For peace from the yawning of empty stomachs
Sixth, prayer.
Four little mouths became
Four grown mouths, each with
Two hands to work,
Strong minds to think,
And the unquenchable fear
Of hunger.
Our children will not starve, thirst.
We will die before our children cry.
but see the iridescence,
Formed under the pressure of want?
And here, we raise coal, to protect them
From the beauty, never broken through.
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