Begging is not her policy.

Begging is not her policy.

Mwamba Kanyonga

She wakes up
Not that she's slept much
The growling complaints
From her children's tummies
have kept her up mostly

A piece of cloth
For her brittle entangled brown hair
Ensuring she doesn't wake her offspring
She carefully takes her dirty white bag

Begging is not her policy
All her senses are intact
With her tattered clothes and shoes
She hurries from bin to large dumps

From five to seven, morning
She achieves a loaf and a bag of soup bones
She heads for her brown carton home

Her children have had it lucky today
Mother has brought home some breakfast