A tearing loaf is losing its parts,
With the drawing apart of its whiteness within,
Halving its whole,
And leaving an abyss betwixt,
New incompletenesses,

A torn loaf sends shreds raining down,
Relics of fullness, signs of wreck,
Its white lands on earthen ground,
To defy dirt awhile,
Till it lies six feet deep,

This shared loaf once one,
Is multiplied by demise,
To reach the tongues that trust,
Enliven a billion bellies,
And reside in our flesh and blood,

In Christ’s flayed frame we find,
Skin shredded as crumbs,
Raining down from Heaven’s table,
His very self multiplied abroad,
To fill a billion hungry hearts,

Ikenna Nwachukwu

(c) 2018