Fish and Loaves
by Bonnie Smith
We are laughing, and naked,
and there is no fear between
us. There is no absence, no
invisibility, no dread - not
even the possibility of it.
It is easy to remember all the
days I went to bed hungry for
affection - disappointed in false
gods that claimed to be true love,
I dug up so many graveyards trying to
find a pearl buried in that narcissism—
it is easy now to point out what
is not god, and what is not love,
but it is still a surprise every time
I turn over in bed and see olive branches
sprouting from the pillows;
a sign that destruction has been
subsiding. This I can confess:
I cast my pearls among swine,
but I have been brought into the
wilderness and he has spoken
to me tenderly. Between us
there is still seeking, but within
myself a covenant with the
divine is found.
It wasn’t the food or the meal,
it was the generosity that people
couldn’t stop talking about.
That’s why I call you a miracle.