a bread for staying

one day a slowly risen bread
mixed at dawn
turned all morning
loafed at noon
baked for dinner
a bread in whose pockets the soup pools
one day a bread for staying
 

don't be grandiose about bread
I am told by the jaded part of myself
and also by the part of myself
that has never fled

another part of myself knows what a slow bread means
knows the pleasure of kneading
and also the privilege of kneading

enough enough
that when I wake at dawn
it is to mix a slowly rising dough
and never to lay paste across my shoulders
to bake in the sun while I run

enough that everything I do is slow
by which I mean everything I do is right here
and stays right here

in one version of a prayer for humanity
there is a loaf of bread rising on the counter
and it will not be disturbed before mealtime


 - l aura brown-lavoie