David Whyte Poems: Loaves and Fishes

I never truly appreciated the beauty of poetry until quite recently. I think my brain was too distracted to understand the gorgeous simplicity contained in so few words. As my life becomes more and more simplified, I find I am drawn to the magical way a poem can evoke an ocean of feeling and understanding.

We live in a world of so much, and yet so little. Our nation struggles with an obesity epidemic, while at the same time cannot deny that millions of its children are hungry every day. We have more bandwidth and connection than ever before, and yet as individuals, the sense of being isolated and alone has never been greater.

How can this be?

I think this poem expresses what we truly need.

bread loaves | Dianna Bonny Photography

Loaves and Fishes

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.

by David Whyte

from The House of Belonging

-db

Who is Dianna Bonny?

Hi, my name is Dianna Bonny. It’s my mission to candidly share my journey with you. For me, it’s all about the healing: to create a radiant healing energy for others who have befallen a similar fate. Together, we can forge beautiful lives of belonging and connection. Thanks for joining me today! I look forward to hearing from you.

  2 comments for “David Whyte Poems: Loaves and Fishes

  1. December 26, 2014 at 12:41 pm

    LOVE this!

  2. September 26, 2016 at 3:13 pm

    Hi Dianna, I found your blog when I went looking for the words of David Whyte’s poem just now. A friend of mine read it for our writing group this morning as a prompt and I wanted to include the line breaks Whyte used when I saved my response. I’m attaching what I wrote because why not. It’s not great writing but I learned something about myself:

    I love when a poem says the obvious and the obvious is not something I’ve thought of before.

    “This is not the age of information”

    Whaddya mean it’s not the age of information? Everyone with half a brain knows this is the information age. If anything there’s too much information.

    And then Nicole says it again:

    “This is not the age of information,” like it’s a tornado warning or tsunami alert.

    Now I’m paying attention. I want to know what the hell the poet means. I think to myself, Oh yeah, he’s right! Most of what we stick in our veins is not information, it’s heroin. We’re addicted to knowing more and thinking less; consuming more and feeling less.

    Forget the TV, the radio. Your screen is a blur.

    That’s not what the poet wrote but that’s what I heard: that my screen is a blur. My screen. The screen my imagination uses is filled with static and noise. Garbage is clogging it up.

    Then David Whyte reminds me I’m not so bad.

    “People are hungry. One good word is bread for a thousand.”

    So I tell myself I’m good at that. I write and sing what I think is true. Surely my words have done some good. Surely they have. I’m redeemed, I tell myself. I’ve done my bit. Then I pat myself on the back and get back to sitting alone.

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