Stray Moments (Stafford)

Stray Moments 
By William Stafford

We used to ask -- remember? We said,
"...our daily bread." And it came. 
Now we want more, and security too:
 "You can't be too sure." And,
 "Why should we trust? - Who says?" 
And Old-Who doesn't speak any more. 

They used to have Thunder talk, or 
The Rivers, or Leaves, or Birds. It's all
 "Cheep, Cheep" now. It's a long time 
since a cloud said anything helpful. 
But last night a prophet was talking, 
disguised as a clerk at the check-out stand: 

"Gee, it's been a good day!" 
And we talked for awhile and I felt 
that I wasn't such a bad guy. 
We stood there looking out at the evening. 
And maybe what we said, in its way, was 
Thanks for our daily bread.

Pax et bonum