Bread for the Journey

How a loaf of bread transported me to a better place...

Photo by Gabriella Clare Marino on Unsplash

Sometimes, it is the simple things in life that drop us to our knees in gratitude. Like yesterday, a friend made a loaf of bread for me. We met for a conversation which was bread enough—we talked of life. We spoke of faith.We spoke of the “Roofless Church” poem I posted yesterday.

The bread she gave was more than wheat, flour and such. The ingredients of time, creativity, and love were what actually nurtured me. The bread was a container for these life-giving ingredients. It was what she put into the bread that mattered more. But oh, the wonderful taste of this bread—I cannot deny the goodness in this gift.

This morning, I sliced it for our breakfast and scrambled some eggs to enjoy with it. And as I sat there by the fire breaking the night-fast from a fitful night of sleep of bad dreams, the bread took me somewhere better. It took me to a better place than the bad dream. I needed the better place. I needed the bread. I needed the love in the bread.

So, I wrote this poem to anchor and savor the memory and remember the bread through the poem. As you might imagine, her bread reminded me of “his” bread. I found a way to acknowledge both. Read the poem now and see where it takes you.

The value of a good poem is that the poem becomes a container that takes us somewhere…and these places we go through in a poem are not always good; not always hard; not always beautiful…but hopefully always meaningful. A poem is a portal to remember, imagine, encounter and savor; to give us nourishment to go on—to press through; to not stop; to not stay stuck. We all need bread for the journey.

We need the nourishment of poems. This is why I read a poem every single day and why I try to write a poem ever couple of days or so. Through my poems, I savor and taste my own life. I slow down. I refuse urgency. I do that which is important. Poems are important.

Photo by Tetiana Padurets on Unsplash

To read my poems, you’ll need to make a choice to support my work. I’m so grateful to write poetry at this age of my life. It is a place of convergence for me to write poems, not sermons; say less—not more. Distill what I think is the best and to write out in words what is happening in my heart.

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