I remember the crystal days in winter
when the kitchen smelled like bread and warmed us
like a quilt. Mom baked all day to create 12 dozen rolls.
The flour, the yeast, the sugar. Salt, water,
and butter. We helped, or tried to as we mixed
and kneaded with our childish hands.
It was hard work but the waiting was harder
the proofing so difficult. Letting the yeast do yeast
things while the time ticked by on the timer.
We beat the dough down then kneaded it again. Let
it rise once more before we rolled it into balls the size
of large marbles. Three balls in each muffin cup. Be patient;
let the rolls rest before baking, before creating the scent
we still carry into reverie.
Now, in these pandemic times, I am holding onto mom,
in the midst of another proof. Now, without her.
Finding a way to rest, hoping to rise again,
but knowing the lesson is in the waiting.
Le Hinton is the author of seven poetry collections including, most recently, Elegies for an Empire (Iris G. Press, 2023). His work has been widely published and can be found in The Best American Poetry 2014, Pleiades,the Baltimore Review, Pittsburgh Poetry Review, the Summerset Review, and outside Penn Medicine Park, incorporated into Derek Parker’s sculpture Common Thread.