Rabbit and Rose
Knuckles hidden under
fleshy fists repetitive soft punches
rhythm drum beats kneading dough
Mother shaping a mass with prayer hands
commodity flour, sugar, salt, lard
into oven pan bread
Baking smell is effervescent bon appetit hunger
greasy family smiles laughing across generations
Lakota tezis (bellies) happy
my memories remembrance before mom passed
when I was 19 in 1984
Sitting in Oakland decades later
at my kitchen table
missing mother's kabubu bread
while making cinnamon toast
on wheat bread
for my 5 year old daughter
sharing first smile bread bites
Reminding myself, carrying forward to her
family heritage in a good way
stories of my daughter's unci (grandmother)
that she will never meet in this lifetime
yet will need