121 - Learning to Make Easter Bread

Learning to Make Easter Bread
By Patricia Flower Vermillion

She cups her left hand,
holds cardamom,
anise seeds,
fragile saffron threads
while her right hand sprinkles
brandy and wine over yeast.
She asks if I understand
the meaning of spices, wine?
I say yes, of course
anxious
to record ingredients.

I don't
understand
this old woman who listens
to Puccini, wears black stockings
and aprons, covers her head
with cotton scarves
tied at the nape of her neck.

She crosses herself
when the dough doubles,
lifts it onto a board,
caresses in circles,
divides and holds up
three swinging strands.
She braids and makes them one.
I nod. I have everything
written down, no need to stay.

At dawn I hear
Puccini's The Swallow
and her voice.
Che importa la ricchezza
se alfin e rifiorita la felicita?
What do riches matter
compared with happiness in full flower?
Must she sing Puccini on Easter?
Dishes rattle in the china cabinet.
I think she's dancing!

Patricia Flower Vermillion, a prize-winning writer, has published poetry in The Writer, Orphic Lute, and Virginia Country. Her poem "Feast Days" appeared in the April, 1991 issue of THEOLOGY TODAY.

122 - Learning to Make Easter Bread

I try to make bread
for this full-moon feast
but something is missing
lemon balm, rose geraniums in pots,
fragrance from her kitchen garden?
How many years will it take,
how many do I have
to learn to sing Puccini and dance?