you told me a story about a young man who went to africa
you said he went there to try to help people and to study abroad
you said he worked with political refugees and worked with people fleeing the famines in ethiopia, fleeing the famines in sudan, fleeing the drought in all of west africa
he worked with men and women and children with aids
he worked with people who didn't know what it was like to have water
whenever they needed it
he worked with people who did not have food
whenever they needed it
he taught people how to read while he was there
even though they did not have much food they still wanted to learn to read
you said he stayed there for four months taking pictures
and writing letters and sending his photos to important people
to show them what was happening so maybe they would use public money
to help feed these people or at least get them some fucking water
you said when he got home to his apartment in cleveland
the first thing he needed to do was buy groceries because he didn't have any in his home
because he had just been gone for four months
so he took the bus to the grocery store
and he walked inside and into the air conditioned produce section
bright red tomatoes and purple grapes, white and brown rice
red meat and potatoes, salsa and chocolate, green and yellow bananas
you said he stood there and looked at all the food on all of the shelves
and cried
