8

The Bop is a poetic form that was developed by poet Afaa Michael Weaver. Three stanzas (6/8/6 lines), each followed by a refrain.

"Let's eat together"

In a world hungry for love, we are starving each other.
We beg to be fed, but bring nothing to the table.
Or, worse yet, we bring the dish we like to eat,
yet fail to feed the other.
We treat each person like a new course,
demand to try them all in order to feel full.

Let's eat together.

Wasting away is common now; emaciated hearts
don't even bother to hold forks or knives.
With what strength could they hold on to them?
What we don't feed dies,
so how can we stop feeding a thing
And then complain that it experiences hunger, longs to dine
with us at a table once long and stocked when we felt
more generous or, too, more hungry?

Let's eat together.

The only way to satiate the hunger
is to feed and, when offered, allow ourselves to be fed.
But not just by anyone; by one who invites us
to the table, daily; and feeds us not by utensils,
but from the hand
and of the heart.

Let's eat together.

#NaPoWriMo2016