Author’s note: I read this poem 30 June, 2016, at a poetry event billed as an Interfaith Eco Poetry Slam at Tmol Shilshom, a well-known literary cafe and bookstore in Jerusalem. This is a hybrid between non-fiction, found poetry, and experimental-performance poetry. The unfortunately-unseen connections between hunger, stress, climate change, and war lead to a desire for the equally unseen hope for peace and harmony. Read it rhythmically, fast. Hear the sounds at play as well as the words at play.

Landscape 10
Digital Art
©2015 Michael Dickel

Warm Hunger

Food Fatigue Craving
Climate Change Hunger
War Peace Harmony

symptoms of (earth) malnutrition
medication (poison) reaction or
(industrial) side-effect low blood
sugar (hypoglycemia) too much
(junk food) eating disorder
mononucleosis anemia (chaos)
(drought) dehydration (children)

general (election) anxiety disorder
panic attack depression (adult)
heart (love) rhythm /dis/harmony
/dis/order acute stress reaction
bipolar (melting) /dis/order hepatitis
a b & c pulmonary hypertension (floods)

food hunger and climate change
(Carbon Brief 10 June 2011)

a feeling of (migrant) discomfort or
(human) weakness caused by lack
of food coupled with (commodified) desire
to (not) eat of or at a fairly or comfortably
high (low) temperature

Climate change
threatens to put the fight against
hunger back by decades
(Guardian 2 September 2014)

balmy heated hot lukewarm cold-blooded
mild pleasant sunny sweltering beached
(whale) temperate tepid broiling close
flushed glowing melting perspiring
roasting scorching sizzling sweating
clement snug summery sweaty
thermal toasty warmish having

a color in the red-orange-yellow
part of the visible electromagnetic
(organic) spectrum feel or suffer hunger
through lack of food (distribution) craving
desire famine greed longing /dis/satisfaction
lust starvation yearning ache war
appetence appetency emptiness famine

esurience famishment greed gluttony
mania ravenousness vacancy void
voracity want yen a stomach
for appetition big eyes
bottomless pit eyes for munchies
sweet tooth close often used
in the context of a game

in which “warm” and “cold”
indicate nearness to the goal
you can’t take it with you
but if you try sometime

In Wild Winter Warm North Pole
Storm Chills U.S. Forecast
as Flooding Threatens Levees
(NYT Weather 30 December 2015)

a lack of food that can cause war
illness or death especially war
among large numbers of people war
have a strong desire or craving for peace
for having showing or expressive peace
of enthusiasm affection or kindness peace

Climate Change Will Worsen
Hunger Study Says
(Worldwatch Institute 31 December 2015)

archaic being well off as to property (war)
or in good circumstances rich (peace)
make or become warm (harmony)

Surreal Landscape vii

© Michael Dickel

This also appears in The BeZine: Faith in Things Seen and Unseen here.