Bread

Thank you for sharing this poem, Julia. Jean Janzen is my favorite Mennonite poet.


Bread
Earth is the mother of bread.
We swallow the dark
safety of her roots.

Water is sister of bread,
her silver release and fall
for the green rising.

The brother of bread is wind,
caressing the wheat
as it bends and bows.

And fire is the father of bread,
uniting with us in our
ripening and burning.

The loaf before us, whole,
we break and eat.

-Jean Janzen