In simple bread,
Is life and meat,
Grain once dry
And safe in husk,
Swelled and burst
In dark earth’s womb,
And quickened forth
The meal hence ground
To mix with water,
Glueing life with life.
In dark separation
And sustained high heat,
What went into the oven
Never comes out the same,
Baked for a time
In quiet stillness,
Observably waiting,
Visibly poised,
Until the sudden rise;
The metamorphosis
From soft dough
To life-giving bread,
From pale distaste
To golden appetite,
When substance remains, still,
Yet substantially changed,
From mix and contents
Into form and presence.
For now is the bread
Where before it was not,
And only in the breaking,
And taking and eating
Is the bread for life,
And the power
To release life given.
Only in the fulfilment
Of its purpose does
The bread exist as bread;
Only in the invitation
And the offer
Is the simple bread
Life and meat.

“Take, eat; this is my body.”
Matthew 26:26