I am volunteering in the Jubilee Soup Kitchen

On Fifth Avenue in the uptown section

One cold winter’s day.

The steam from the serving line brings warmth

And the food brings smiles to those who come for lunch.

Plump thighs and breasts for the hungry, eat up!

The pleasantness of it all is undermined

By a serious miscalculation.

Either more people have come than we expected

Or insufficient chicken was prepared.

Scurrying to make do as soup kitchens often do,

Chicken necks were hastily prepared

And added to the now empty serving pans.

Looking down at what we had to offer

I was so embarrassed,

Too embarrassed to look people in the eye.

The people remaining in line started complaining

And I found myself getting angry,

Angry for the lack of better food,

And angry at them for their lack of gratitude.

Then I remembered the words

of St. Vincent de Paul

It is for your love alone

that the poor will forgive

the bread you give them.

-Jim Faltot