Kneading Instructions
Be gentle.
Let the dough slide through your hands.
Let your hands be grease-marked and slippery
Fish, gliding.
Punch the dough down, not too hard.
Massage your love into it,
your want, your longing.
Listen - what does it want?
Wet your fingers under the tap,
let the droplets dance across the craggy bundle.
Not too much.
You can always add more.
Listen again. Wait.
It'll smooth out, it always does.
Put away all your rage and sorrow,
those will keep.
When it's time, bake. Sit. Think.
Save a slice for loved ones passed.
Wash your tools, breathe in yeast,
and rejoice in what your hands have made.