the hungry kid

 the kid looked like he'd never eaten.

he sat in the door of that hootch
scratching a stick into the dirt.

he might have been any kid, back home.
hunger is an awful thing.

it gnaws your guts
they say

and then there's no gnawing
no ache or pain

just grim acknowledgment
you will die.

i wonder where on this continuum the kid is?

his mama-san
briefly appears behind the kid.
maybe handing him a chunk of bread.

he looks at me and smiles
almost shyly.

i have a chocolate bar, and gesture the kid over.
he will love this!

hands behind his back, he trots over
extending a hand to me......

and he's holding
a grenade.