Lord, When Did We See You Hungry?

Remember the child with large, sunken eyes,
No strength to even cry,
With pitiful spindly arms
And legs too weak to stand?
With bloated stomach
And falling hair?
I was there!

Remember the mother,
Emaciated, gaunt,
With flaccid skin and empty breasts?
Quietly desperate,
Huge eyes silently pleading,
"Don't let my baby die!" -
That was I!

Remember that father,
Once fiercely independent,
Now beaten, hopeless, scrounging,
Reduced to a beggar
Groveling for food for his family,
"Help me please, won't you?"
I was that man too!

When you offered the cup of cold water,
Or helped those hungry ones,
Not only did you save their lives,
Restored their hope,
Rebuilt their confidence;
Far more than that, you see-
You did it unto ME!

Honoria A. Groves

1986