African American Poetry: A Digital Anthology

Countee Cullen, "Bread and Wine" (1923)

From death of star to new star's birth,
   This ache of limb, this throb of head,
This sweaty shop, this smell of earth,
   For this we pray, "Give daily bread."

Then tenuous with dreams the night,
   The feel of soft brown hands in mine,
Strength from your lips for one more fight:
   Bread's not so dry when dipped in wine.

First published in The Crisis, June 1923
Published in Color, 1925

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