German Baker by Kimberly Coverly
Pumpernickel in color her hair sits,
Perfectly sitting, loaf on a platter.
Though it is underproofed and not well done.
I make streusel better than her do.
My streuselkuchen was the best in town,
Famous in East Berlin for its aroma.
Sweet smells of cinnamon lingered above
The heads of staunch businessmen and their wives.
Now I am stuck here with these reckless fools,
A hovering tang of salt in the air.
Not like the good kind of sea salt I know,
It will never be caught in my kitchen.
That kitchen was pristine and sparkling,
My cherry Kalorik in the corner,
Always filled with a delicious mixture,
Kuchen, Plaetzchen, to name just a very few.
That serenity will never return,
She thinks she has found it, she is wrong.
I detest this cold day, this icy breeze,
I loathe the way this couple is dancing.
Not even close to elegant; they dance.
The ratio of sugar to flour,
When you can do that, that is elegance,
Not this clumsy man cheating on his wife.
Gazing at the clouds is my only chance
To get my mind back in that time, pre-war.
Sweet and puffy like the peaks of meringue,
The clouds float above, memories of past.
But this is my sad reality now,
Listening to my poor husband singing.
Not as good as when he had a full stomach,
Saying, “Danke! Kann ich andere haben?”
"Not even close to elegant; they dance.
ReplyDeleteThe ratio of sugar to flour,
When you can do that, that is elegance,
Not this clumsy man cheating on his wife."
I really love this stanza. It related back to what you were talking about before while also drawing it in to talk about dancing. It makes you sympathize with the character telling the story. As if he knows something they don't know and wants to tell them how they are so wrong. Awesome!