Her Story in Famine Times

By Lynn Ockersz

Another lean crop looms large,

With the angry sun showing no signs,

Of backing down from its invasion,

Leaving a sad trail of dying hearths,

And women scraping empty larders,

To feed half dozen mouths in huts,

Agape with rising pangs of hunger,

But these trials are half the struggle,

For these female hands doing battle,

To ward off the spectre of starvation,

For, the flames of drought, they find,

Are taking a high toll on male patience,

Inclining Him to greater violence,

And etching Her Story in tones darker.