Copyright © 2012 Richard P. Nixon All Rights Reserved.
UNTITLED
The Irish are known
for potatoes but
in truth it is our bread
that is our mainstay and
there is none better.
We make our bread
the way we live -
without recipe:
no measuring
with precision:
a fistful of this
a pinch of that
a dash of fancy
plenty of salt
an egg or maybe two
- if you have any -
and just enough
old buttermilk to bind
the ingredients -
more by instinct
than guidance -
knead ‘till it feels right
doesn’t give with you -
bake in as hot an oven
as your fuel supply allows:
eat straight from the oven
spread with sweet butter -
or eat tomorrow
dipped in fat and fried.
Each house makes bread
in its own fashion.
Weevils don’t get much chance
to invade Irish flour.
The Irish are known
for potatoes but
in truth it is our bread
that is our mainstay and
there is none better.
We make our bread
the way we live -
without recipe:
no measuring
with precision:
a fistful of this
a pinch of that
a dash of fancy
plenty of salt
an egg or maybe two
- if you have any -
and just enough
old buttermilk to bind
the ingredients -
more by instinct
than guidance -
knead ‘till it feels right
doesn’t give with you -
bake in as hot an oven
as your fuel supply allows:
eat straight from the oven
spread with sweet butter -
or eat tomorrow
dipped in fat and fried.
Each house makes bread
in its own fashion.
Weevils don’t get much chance
to invade Irish flour.
