Ecclesiastes 11:1
We must cast our bread
Upon the waters, as the
Ancient preacher said,
Trusting that it may
Amply be restored to us
After many a day.
That old metaphor,
Drawn from rice farming on the
River’s flooded shore,
Helps us to believe
That it’s no great sin to give,
Hoping to receive.
Therefore I shall throw
Broken bread, this sullen day,
Out across the snow,
Betting crust and crumb
That birds will gather, and that
One more spring will come.
Richard Wilbur
This poem first appeared in The New Yorker and was reprinted in Best American Poetry 2011. Poem copyright 2011 Richard Wilbur, all rights reserved, used by permission of the author.
Read about Richard Wilbur.
See more work from Faith Eskola.
This motionpoem is presented in collaboration with Best American Poetry 2011 (Scribner), with thanks to David Lehman, series editor.
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Enjoy these excerpts from Motionpoems’ interview with video artist Faith Eskola:
Motionpoems: What is this poem’s most important moment for you?
Faith Eskola: I love the line “Therefore, I shall throw…” It is the moment of decision. In my head, I hear those words spoken with such conviction and authority….as if the timid voice that has been struggling with doubt and keeps trying to summon up the courage to act, suddenly finds its inner Moses or Martin Luther King Jr. and BOOM! Courage. Strength. Faith. Birds.
Motionpoems: What inspired you to film this on your iPhone?
Faith Eskola: My background is as a visual artist, and I am more of a designer/animator/street musician than a filmmaker (that’s actually me playing the thumb piano and the melodica in a friend’s living room). But, from the first time I read the poem, I had planned to do a much more involved motion piece (Think: a reverent Toy Story 3). The morning after I officially said ‘yes’ to this project, we had yet another late April snow storm, and the spring blanket of snow kind of seemed too perfect to pass up given the imagery in ‘Ecclesiastes 11:1.’ I grabbed my phone, which was the only camera I had at home with me at the time, and spent the next few hours in my backyard.
Fast forward to October. Steve Jobs’ passing was at the top of the headlines. And while I had only about a week and a half left to finish this project, I knew it might be made possible by all of my apple devices. Given that I had shot the 720p footage on my iphone 4 and the final piece was 1080…I decided to let some of the process be transparent as a subtle nod to the impact he has had on the creative industry. And like the narrator in this poem, he was a risk taker and a believer in the unseen. All that to say, while no Toy Story 3, it seemed fitting this piece could also be a humble offering, a poetic eulogy from a grateful disciple.