(pudding)

I make bread
pudding, as an
anti-dote. In a
9×12 Pyrex, the way
my mother did.
A sensible act for her,
with her large family.
for me, not quite
desparate, but
motivated, to be sure.
I make it with
half a recipe, as
I tend to, on a
day when I am
out of cinnamon.
Ill-advised
and urgent.

I have never
made bread pudding
before.
It is the sort
of act that
has become honorable.
Using ends, &
bits & scraps.
It feels right.
It feels like
I have done it
a thousand times,
as I sprinkle
the raisins in
with the broken bread.
Topping it with coconut,
my own touch.
It feels like
something
I will always
do.

3/22/99