How to Make Bread in a War Zone
conversation with a recipe
Mix yeast with half a cup of warm water until yeast fully dissolved -
We have no water. The purifying plants sit silent with no fuel to take salt from the sea.
then add sugar -
The yeast will have to feed on the sight of my children's breathing bodies. There is no other sweetness now.
and set aside for 2 minutes -
when we get the call to run, to leave, to flee, we never have that long
Place flour in a large bowl, add salt -
try and stop me from crying as I -
Knead together -
whatever I have to muscle this bread -
With your hand rub a few drops of olive oil all over the dough and the bowl.
My uncle's olive trees grew the best ones. Plump and brimming, you scarcely had to press them for the green-gold richness that spilled into our barrels. The memory of it will have to do.
Preheat the oven -
no need, in this sun
cut the dough, form balls, and let it rest again -
may our empty, growling bellies speed your will to rise -
After baking and cooling, bread can be stored in a zip bag in the freezer to maintain freshness -
There will be none left.
We'll eat as it burns our tongues,
perfectly seasoned
and a little too dry.
About the Creator
Dane BH
By day, I'm a cog in the nonprofit machine, and poet. By night, I'm a creature of the internet. My soul is a grumpy cat who'd rather be sleeping.
Top Story count: 19
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Comments (16)
That's amazing
<3 lovely and important!
Deeply, deeply moving. This is such a striking choice of 'conversation partner,' masterfully written. Congrats on a very worthy Top Story- this needs all the recognition we can give it.
Wonderful poem that should be widely shared. The contrast of making the daily bread with the grim reality of life and death in the war zone is stunning. This is why we write, because it can be so powerful, in expert hands like yours.
This is a powerful interpretation of the Challenge, and a heartbreaking reality. I hope this places high.
Also, congrats on top story!
This broke my heart.. thinking of the war zones and people hardly having food to eat :( Brilliant concept for this entry!
Congrats on the well-deserved Top Story! You took something a simple recipe, intertwined with a heartbreaking message, and created such a beautiful poem. I wouldn't be surprised if this placed high with the challenge.
Very inspirational and simple yet much needed one Well deserved win
Powerful message, impactfully delivered. This moved me deeply. I especially appreciated that last line and how it wrapped back to the opening line.
a stunning entry and a well-deserved top story. tysm for this💙
Brilliant concept and writing! The back and forth with the recipe was a powerful dynamic! Congrats on Top Story!
This is amazing, what a fantastic devise for making a message very very clear.
THIS. Thank you for writing this and being one of the few writers bringing awareness to the forced starvation and genocide happening in Gaza and Palestine.
Bread - the simplest of sustenance. Clever use of the recipe here to show the scarcity of the ingredients to the person desperate to have them just to survive. The way the two are juxtaposed gives the poem such power; a simple recipe, described leisurely contrasted with it being needed for survival. Religious significance also, I think. Thought-provoking.
This is one of the best pieces I have read this year, heck, in my time at the Vocal spanning over two years. I am thinking of Ukrainian mothers, Palestinian and Israel families on the Gaza and the underbelly of our world's omnic crisis globally. This so deserves to be read by everyone. I hope you make Top Story and place in the challenge. Teary eyes.