How Much Is Rice Worth?
How much is rice worth?
Yes, the yellow one with the half grains.
The ones that cost the least.
In little tin cups pouring from the weary expert hand
of the Muslim woman with a gold tooth.
Yes, how much is it worth?
The one from the woman with the deep tin cup,
Not the one whose tin cup seems shallow, robbing us
of those few extra golden yellow grains.
Only spreading a few extra hundred grains from her free hand as a kind gesture.
How much is rice worth?
The one you have to walk miles to find,
Because her measuring tin cup is deep and will feed the family well.
How much is rice worth?
The one sold by the neighbour with the falling wooden shop,
Or the one in the market miles away,
deep behind stalls and shops, hidden from view.
How much is rice worth but a few pesewas and cedis?
How much is rice worth but another meal to save a starving family?
Never mind the taste nor the flavour.
It is worth saving a family,
It is worth more than a few pesewas and cedis.
