Lilies More Than Bread

(Still Life by Francisco de Zurbarán, 1598-1664, Spanish
painter)

“But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.” ~ Matthew 6:3-4

LILIES MORE THAN BREAD

(for a philanthropist)

Go not empty-hearted
Into the marts of men,
The brightest coin will darken
And lose its luster when
The hand that gives is loveless
And folds in pride again.

There is a spirit-hunger
Sharper than body’s need;
There is an infinite thirsting
For cups of wisdom’s mead;
While on the rim of laughter
A stricken heart may bleed.

With bread and cooling water
The body’s feast is spread;
Not so the straining spirit’s
That will be housed and fed
By love more than a roof-tree,
And lilies more than bread.

~ Thérèse Lentfoehr (1902-1981), American poet, editor, and Thomas Merton scholar