Poetry
The Baker’s Science
Trevor Conway
issue four
The act of mixing
at some point becomes one of turning
a galactic swirl of wet dough.
She eyes the flour and, needing more,
scatters pinches in precise places,
presses her fists into curves –
a brief record of each effort
turned and folded to extinction.
Shoving the tray into the oven,
she settles on a chair
to sip tea and observe the slow expansion of dough.
With no knowledge
to explain its transformation,
she believes herself dumb to its science,
and yet, she thinks of how flour is ground
by cog and wind, has some grasp
of fiery engines and rolling wheels
that carry flour to bright shelves.
The scent that spreads throughout her home
has always struck her as cousin
to the fragrance of plants relieved by rain.
And she considers
the science of ship-builders that brought her tea,
the physics of wood,
the absent friction of a churning sea.
She cuts through crust.
A thick wave of butter
seeps to an oily swamp.
Her eyes close,
and all science is academic
when she takes a moment
to savour the taste.
About the Author
Trevor Conway writes mainly poems, stories and songs. Subjects he typically writes about include nature, sport, society, creativity and interesting moments. His first collection of poems, Evidence of Freewheeling, was published by Salmon Poetry in 2015; his second, Breeding Monsters, followed in 2018, then No Small Thing in 2023. He also published a children’s guide for writing poetry, Nurturing the Creative Child: A Guide to Writing Poetry.
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