Day 971

The children are scavenging
for food. Once they had parents
who fed them. Now
they’re managing on their own,
two boys, not even teenagers.
One finds wild dandelions
they can make soup with
if they have enough water.
The other finds a kind of grass
they’ve learned doesn’t taste
too bitter. A girl,
also scavenging, offers them
mint, wild oregano,
a couple of strawberries.
They trade her some of the dandelions.
It’s summer. This could have been
a game, an excursion. Something
they did for fun on a warm afternoon.
They carry their food in a cloth bag
back to their tent, gathering wood
on their way. Carefully watching
the sky, the ground, the bushes beside them.