bread of life

she just got news: she passed away.
it had been coming. (it always is.)
I didn’t know her, but I see she’s alive.
here.  in this house.
a reincarnation in this generation.
she kneads and kneads and needs the dough.
beaming with the smile, the joy, of life.
she’s coping, she says.

a body has passed but souls live on.
souls within bodies. and without.
souls who know no greater joy
than to nurture and nourish the bodies
still living.

“it’s ready”, she says,
and we gather together,
companions together,
to share in this bread.  
Pan de Vida.  Bread of Life.

“doesn’t it feed the soul?” she asks.
and it does.
feeding Life to these souls,
to these bodies,
and those passed.

with love and gratitude
for aly and her grandmother

and to dominique
for being there for the sharing

I will choose