A Miracle for Breakfast

“A Miracle for Breakfast” is a sestina—the same end words occur throughout the seven stanzas—but it’s also a lyric and a narrative. It’s a lyric because it’s short and expresses personal emotions—the feelings the speaker has about breakfast, the miracle (or not miracle), and the personal vision of the villa. The poem is also a narrative since it tells the story of a somewhat surreal breakfast experience. As the narrator of the story—the speaker—doesn’t disclose much about themselves, it makes sense to refer to the speaker as they/them since the speaker could be anybody.

The speaker’s tone is exact. They specify the time, “six o’clock” (Line 1), and explain what’s happening—“[w]e were waiting for coffee” (Line 1). Conversely, the tone is somewhat elusive since the speaker never details who composes the “we.” Yet the speaker provides a hint about the state of the "we" with a “charitable crumb” (Line 2). The diction—that is, the words the speaker uses—indicates that the “we” are people who need charity and food.

Maintaining the precise yet ambiguous tone, the speaker says the coffee and crumbs are “going to be served from a certain balcony” (Line 3).