Loaves and Fishes

by Becky Brooks

People forget how amazing it was even before the loaves came out.
Five thousand souls,
ten thousand eyes
ten thousand ears
straining to see, straining to hear the Rabbi

A space of time spent together to learn,
three days of stories and songs and prayers
three days of transforming themselves
inside out
to build a home inside themselves
for the holy, for god, for their own soul
to dwell
three days fed
by the Rabbi’s love.

And at the end of a day
the sun setting behind him,
Jesus the Rabbi looked out at the crowd
ten thousand eyes
on him, only him
heavy on him like a tiger on your chest
tight around him like a bandage,
and the air left his lungs
and his voice faded into the wind.

He turned to the
six disciples on his right, and the
six disciples on his left

“They are hungry, ” he said,
“How much food is left?”

The bushel looked completely empty at first,
but leaning closer in, they saw
something
rested on the bottom of the basket
seven loaves
two fish
five thousand empty mouths.

The Rabbi saw
six heads shaking on his right
“Not enough,” they said
six heads shaking on his left
“Not enough,” they said.

Five thousand, waiting.

The Rabbi said, “The people will know what to do.”
The Rabbi said, “Pass them along.”
The disciples took out the loaves and the fish
and handed them to the people
in the front of the crowd.

Sarah took a loaf of bread, and broke it into
two pieces.
She turned to hand a piece back, and
looked into the eyes of those around her,
the souls built from love,
and all her hunger left her,
rose from her
up into the sky

She held her hands out to another, now
two pieces of one loaf
“Pass them along,” she said,
And she was fed,
full again with everything she needed.

The people knew.
“Pass them along,” they said,
“Pass them along.”

Five thousand hungry people
had all they needed that day,
looking in the eyes of their neighbors,
satisfied,
one whole body.