When they saw a man blind from birth begging,
they asked, Who failed, this man or his parents?
He replied, Seek not cause but occasion.
He spat, made a paste of dust and spittle,
molded it over the blind man’s eyelids,
and sent him to wash in Siloam’s pool.

*

Even as the waves broke over the boat,
lightning showed him still asleep in the stern,
and they marveled at one not subject to storms.

*

When the crowd found him on the other shore,
he said to them, You seek me not because
my words sustain you but because I gave
you back more bread than you had brought. Go,
find bread within yourselves, among yourselves.