Healing Our Hunger
Imagery and Poetry for Ending Food Insecurity
By Barbara L. Chapman


The air is refreshingly cool this morning even though the sun is bright . I savor and relish in this mornings when I don’t have to go rushing off .
The morning quietness is a freedom all its own . Freedom from the harsh sounds of this world’s man made demands . Freedom society’s pushes and pulls . Freedom from the dictates of ego and one’s not your own .
Awakening gently into a new day of birdsongs dancing through the air and with light , cool breezes ever so subtly caressing the awakening joy of the freedom to just be .
The toils and turbulence of yesterday’s work day are nearly gone and in its place a quiet, deep peace .
What is freedom if it is not to awaken every day knowing that you can be who your are .
Gentle breezes and birdsongs and loving contemplation is my freedom today .
A new life arrives . She is given away . Is the first experience of this life one of trauma ? Aside from the one of leaving a safe womb does the separation from her beginnings of life impact her sense of comfort and trust ?
She is born with a trusting heart no matter the circumstances . She loves deeply , so deeply that it surprises even her .
Welcomed into a home , into a family , that wants to be what it is not . There is love . There is love that battles within itself and with it’s own brokenness . Her love , in innocence , rises to the surface in moments of celebration . Like when she awakens first thing every morning , before opening her eyes , then is a joyous smile across her face. Did her soul choose to know the indescribable ache while also choosing to carry a joy filled heart and an ever replenishing trust ? The brokenness of the family integrated more trauma into her original wound and in quietness she finds a healer , herself . Did her soul choose ?
And in her quietness she sometimes dreams of knowing wholeness . Enchanted by the sight of the moon and the stars she finds a sense of rootedness in them . And when she is near water and it’s powerful timelessness then she feels held by the breath of all life past , present and future .
The light is delicate tonight and the breezes cool. Someone not too far away is
listening to a soprano singing opera . The sounds drift faintly in the air as I watch the
evening light dance with with shadows before calling it a night .
It’s the sort of peaceful , summer night that soothes the soul and invites a restorative
rest .
New dreams are given space to arrive in the subtle , warm glow of the setting sun .
The longest night has come and the light slows it’s beating heart . Rest into your dreams and warm your spirit with peaceful twirls turning into sleep .
The longest night has come and brings promises of new light . Lean into the winter’s darkness and feel the quiet inside of your heart’s sight .
The longest night has come and sings lightly to awaken your patience and creates stirrings of hope .
The longest night has come and invites you warm yourself in a blanket and to tenderly create visions of whats to come .
A comet soaring through the sky wishing away worries from the earth below .
It’s only for moment .
Fires of the quest for justice burn ….and burn .
And those few that are untouched and are so far away from the pain just scold .
And blame .
The man in the tower hiding the darkness behind false whiteness steals souls and
glows red .
And tosses raw flesh to his spectators .
Unrealized is the relentless power of the will to do right . It won’t stop .
The birth of reawakening in the heart and spirit of warriors in our streets come
together as one .
How to see through the smoke ?
Soldiers in streets uninvited , The people rising . Higher than gases .
Division , is it’s fate to become unified ?
Human history as a recipe repeated .
We will take back our sovereignty .
Born white and free
and
in ways i did not see .
Until I became a latch key child .
As I grew I rebelled against the white cocoon
and paid a price for it .
Not as dear though as the price paid by African Americans
to simply live .
Or rather …not to live .
What good are my tears for you ? I must use my voice and body to join with yours .
Lead me through this battle with you
and
lets make lasting change .
When the broken bits arise from your heart and ask for healing will you welcome them ? Love them and accept them and then the peace will come . in time , more and more , the peace of acceptance and love will grow .
Every part of yourself deserves the healing of love . The freedom to live in the sureness of acceptance and generosity . When the heart is open and with out self imposed restraints the beauty of living flows like a glorious river . Healing and abundant lifting us all into a state of grace . 
I surrender to the passions and longing of the creative processes planted in my spirit . The seeds planted long ago before I knew myself and before I knew the freedom of surrender .
She calls to me at all hours and asks only that I listen . And when I listen I am moved to create and to give and to explore . Step outside of what you’ve grown accustomed to and outside of judgment placed upon you and travel inside the the infinite spaces of your heart .
See the stars and bright lights of planets set into motion before you were a whisper …or were you a whisper in the life of a star and now here you are .
The beauty in your kindness echoes throughout the ages and the love that flows freely from your heart is felt throughout the world beyond any measurement known to man .