BREAD


Bread rising!  The intoxicating smell of yeast.  And bread fresh from the oven.  Someone loves me and has left warm bread.  When bread is broken, the life hidden within presents itself, a thousand little holes, windows open for the first time.  In one booth near the window four old women are drinking tea.  They are dressed in old-fashioned clothes, layer on layer, suits and furs, jewelry handed down for generations.  One woman names the year of her mother's birth, and another the day her husband died: his clothes still hanging in the closet.  They talk calmly, quietly, the spring sunlight coming through the glass to touch the backs of their hands. . .  Sit down.  Share this bread.  As we talk you can explain the ordinary things.  I will play some music for you that isn't mine.


© 2008 by Louis Jenkins


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