David Whyte writes, lectures and recites stories and poems that helps bring to life the experience and emotion of change. Whyte says that poems help people to rethink their daily habits and assumptions, thus stirring up some creative juices.
When I find some prose that speaks to me, I like to share it. I found this poem of his while surfing the net today. I’d just finished scanning news — reading about New Orleans and Iraq and terrorism and all the other heart warming stuff that is happening in our world. I decided I needed a soul-break, so I moved away from reading news and started surfing poetry. A few moments later this poem pops on to my screen.
Loaves and Fishes
by David Whyte
This is not the age of information.
This is not
the age of information.
Forget the news,
and the radio,
and the blurred screen.
This is the time
of loaves
and fishes.
People are hungry,
and one good word is bread
for a thousand.
Sometime ago, a Buddhist friend of mine gave me a David Whyte book; The Heart Aroused: Poetry and the Preservation of the Soul in Corporate America. I found it a good read, with some interesting ideas and some nice poetry.
Maybe I’ll try and find it and read it again…