Put yeast in a cup with hot water and sugar. Sift
and measure the flour. Heat milk. Add shortening.
Mix. Knead, rolling the muscles in your arms, your
hands, until they ache.
For dumplings, tuck the dough around sugared plums.
Or roll it with cinnamon and twist.
Do not add yeast if the bread is for communion.
Make it flat.
Make it easy to tear apart for those who ask
forgiveness.
Come to me when you are troubled.
I will give you bread, melted butter
around the edges, the crust hard and yeasty.
Ellie J. Anderson lives in Bellevue, Washington with her husband and a stray cat named Mooch. She has poems forthcoming in Stick Figure, The Bryant Review, and Evening Street Review. To see more of her work, go to her website or join her at Ellie Anderson's Literature on Facebook.
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