Hunger

And God gave the man little wingless birds,
small as a shock,
to eat while He was away.

And a cup the size of a scab,
in case His return was delayed,
and the rain ran out.

But the man ate all the birds on the first day,
he was so hungry, and by
the second, the scab was picked raw.

Now the man has nothing left
to live on except
the dirt under his fingernails.

He does not know what he is going to do
when the third day comes
and goes without Him.

Kobus Moolman is an award-winning South African poet and playwright. He teaches creative writing at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban.