“Poetry is Like Bread” – Ghazal
Bowery Poetry
In these days of quarantine, when a touch is a wave from six masked feet away, we turn again to language, to the essence of language, to the art of language, to poetry.
The “Poetry Is Like Bread” Ghazal is a collaborative poem created by a world of poets to nourish us all through the Pandemic and to envision the world After. We take our inspiration from Pablo Neruda: “On our earth, before writing was invented, before the printing press was invented, poetry flourished. That is why we know that poetry is like bread, it should be shared by all, by scholars and by peasants, by all our vast , incredible, extraordinary family of humanity.” This collaborative poem was created with the idea that each poet’s unique voice would join together as one, and that the result would be shared by all. There is no poetic form better suited to do this than the Ghazal.
“POETRY IS LIKE BREAD” GHAZAL.
If, as Neruda thought, poetry is like bread,
Then let it leaven this dark time and be my bread. [ Christopher Merrill ]
Struggling (and losing) in this Antipoem, ghosted thread,
Spreading cool butter, sweet jam on homemade toasted bread. [ Bob Holman ]
No one waits to forgive the dead
don’t pardon the dirt, nor the psalm palms, this celebration of bread [ Mahogany L. Browne ]
Distracted by detonating deadlines and demonstrations,
I couldn’t meet your request for peaceful bread. [ Sandra Cisneros ]