Poem: Con Pane
by Katie Manning
Con Pane
December 2020
Baking bread — yeast, cinnamon —
and coffee welcome me through
the doors. They’ve retiled the floors,
hung new rolling pin and stand mixer
art on the walls, placed poinsettias
on each little table to welcome us
after almost a year closed, after
we thought we had lost them forever.
I’ve waited a week for the crowds
to thin. I’ve come right at opening.
The only other people here at this time
are older. We smile with our eyes
but spread our bodies far apart.
I look past the bread wreaths to scan
the menu, to make sure the roster
is correct: pear and almond scone,
tomato and cream cheese focaccia,
chocolate hazelnut twist, cinnamon
roll, gruyere and chive loaf (on
Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday).
Somehow, when we’ve lost so many
lives and livelihoods, these breads
have come back. And I’m crying
when I give my order to the young
woman who doesn’t know how
to work the new computer system,
and I try to explain that this place
was my comfort, a routine that carried
me through my spouse’s chemo, and
she keeps apologizing for the delay,
and I keep thanking her for being
here, for giving me bread again.
(First published in Limp Wrist.)
***
Katie Manning is the founding editor-in-chief of Whale Road Review and a professor of writing at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego. She is the author of Tasty Other, which won the 2016 Main Street Rag Poetry Book Award, and her fifth chapbook, 28,065 Nights, is available from River Glass Books. Her poems have appeared in december, The Lascaux Review, Kahini Quarterly, New Letters, Poet Lore, and many other venues. Her poem “What to Expect” was recently featured on the Poetry Unbound podcast from The On Being Project. Find her online at www.katiemanningpoet.com.
