Last night it rained peas.
From the pockets of the princess’s gown
they scattered across the city streets,
leaving a trail like Hansel and Gretel’s breadcrumbs.
Now hungry children gather up the dried green peas
and dream of a real dinner.

They tell the story of a girl who won a royal wedding
by sleeping oh-so-terribly on feather mattresses
with a single pea tucked underneath.
Their mother says,
If a bad back made you royalty,
I’d be swimming in jewels by now.

She cooks her favorite recipe for split-pea soup
simmered with onions and carrots,
its color as bright as the hope of spring.
A piping hot bowl fills all their bellies for a change.
In the palace, the king and queen
are too glutted to finish the ten-course meal
served to them on golden plates.

People who are afraid of going hungry
never sleep as soundly as the rich do,
even with the deceptive dream
that we could all win that kind of thoughtless wealth
if only we were in the right place at the right time,
if only we met a cat wearing boots,
if only we had insomnia on top of a small legume.

(Editors’ Note: “A Full Belly” is read by Erika Ensign on the Uncanny Magazine Podcast, Episode 64A.)

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© 2025 Elizabeth Hart Bergstrom