Matthew Smith
Breaking Bread with Strangers

‘Tis so sweet
to break bread with strangers
burning with a new light
‘twas never known before
howling into the lost night
and drinking from the vine
we pass this bread so divine.
We do not agree
yet we do not argue.
We simply learn from one another.
Antagonists become friends.
The dead become converts.
Strangers become comrades
as night dances into morning
laughter climbs the walls at sunrise
and I’ve learned to listen
somehow discovering myself within myself.
Making love to conversation
and caressing the deep blue nothingness of it all.
Where would I be tonight
had I not broken bread with a stranger?

Matthew Smith received his B.S. and M.A. from East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, TN.  He teaches Sociology at BSCTC.