Before this bread is broken, the yeast must be proofed back to life, a small well dug In the center of a mound of flour, some sugar and salt. Everything must be incorporated then into each other. Don’t be afraid to make a little mess. You can wash your hands later. You will need both to turn out the dough onto the flour- dusted tabletop and knead it until your fingers and wrists are as sore as a great-grandmother’s. Then form a ball the size and shape of a newborn’s head and put it in a bowl with a tea-towel shroud. It has to hide in there and grow. Don’t peek. Do something else for an hour or so. Read or start writing a poem about making bread, but don’t forget you are the one who is actually making bread. It will soon be twice as big and softer. Punch it down to size and throw it on the table for another round of kneading. Form it into the desired shape and let it rise a little more while you do some dishes. Now put it in the oven and go back to writing that poem you started.
George Slobodzian's work has appeared in literary magazines across Canada. Clinical Studies, a book of poetry, was published by DC Books, and a book of his poems was translated into German and published by Mattes Verlag of Heidelberg
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