Child Won’t You Eat Your Food
by Reinfred Dziedzorm Addo
Child won't you eat your food,
won't you drink your water?
That sugar water ain't never
gon' go bad but you gotta be watered now.
That box of chow will last forever
but you gotta scarf it down, you gotta
keep on alive child.
Ma ain't none of it good for me,
that juice is poison. That box
of My Grain
only gives me a migraine.
There's toxic things in the pipes.
Don't want toxic things breathing through my pipe.
Li'l one can't you see they
took the good stuff from us?
They put someone in charge of all
the food and said our money can only
buy goiter. They had the nerve and gall,
set the pure stuff high on a shelf, it cost
more than gold li'l one.
Pa I can't live like that, surely
my body is a temple.
If I die
let it not be from food dye.
No I hungered for dignity.
My righteous thirst wanted equality.
Reinfred Dziedzorm Addo (he/him) is a Ghanaian-American writer. He is the author of the poetry collections Washed Over and The Dedicadas (shortlisted for the GAW Literary Awards and finalist for North Street Book Prize). His work, including his health humanities creative writing, has been published in various publications and by various organizations such as Tampered Press and Signs of Life: An Anthology. He currently lives in Gainesville, Florida and can be found on Instagram under the handle @raddocentral.
