Kneading

From the first fist into
the risen mass, the dough
is a-hiss. To live is
to master a liturgy
of winds — even yeast
knows this. Gas
whispers out through
a thousand pinholes as
I fold & press, fold
& press that limit-
less quilt.

*

Written for the RWP vowel prompt. Other responses may be found here.

About Dave Bonta

Dave Bonta (bio) crowd-sources his problems by following his gut, which he shares with one quadrillion of his closest microbial friends --- a tight-knit, symbiotic community comprising some 500 different species of bacteria, fungi, and protozoa.
This entry was posted in Food and Drink, Greatest Hits, Poems & poem-like things and tagged , . Bookmark the permalink.

19 Responses to Kneading

  1. marja-leena says:

    Oh, my, this makes me want to make some bread!

  2. Guilt is a strong force in one’s life and can be folded many times before it disappears, if at all. Nice use of the prompt. Have a great night.

  3. leslee says:

    I can smell it. :-)

  4. Dave says:

    absolutely love this, Dave – especially your use of hard “is” and “iss” sounds.

    “To live is
    to master a liturgy
    of winds — even yeast
    knows this”.

    Beautiful.

  5. Mark says:

    I concur with Dave. This is beautiful.

    Poetry is where you find it.

  6. carolee says:

    the “s” sound compliments the “i” throughout, set up by “hiss.” very nice! and i love thinking of even those air bubbles caused by yeast as wind. the mention of liturgy makes the whole piece — and the act of making bread — a prayer.

  7. robin andrea says:

    I like this, dave, especially because I’m the bread maker here. I always use the Tassajara Bread Book recipe, and find bread making meditative, like a zen practice. My breath, the bread’s rising, folding in on each other.

    • Dave says:

      Hi robin. I’d like to say I find it meditative, too — if meditation includes spacing out while listening to loud music. :)

  8. leslee says:

    No, I can smell the dough!

  9. Catherine says:

    Simple and elegant. Interesting that Michelle read the last line as “guilt”, it’s “quilt”, right? But strangely, they both work, although with rather different meanings.