Poetry Monday – Mark Nepo

Breaking Bread

The giver is used up in the giving
as rain evaporates in what it helps
to grow. It is human to fear this, but
we can no more resist it than the pit
…can resist becoming fruit.
When you listen, I release my song of
silence. When I see you, you release
your light waiting in the dark.
When you help me up, you absorb
part of my fall. But somehow it doesn’t
make you fall. This is the inoculation
of love.
As if it were a secret, I must confess:
the giver is used up in the giving as
the heart evaporates in
what it tries to hold.

-  Mark Nepo