Fourteenth

by Nica C.

“Brown, white or rye?”

Well as it happens, while

bread means hope,

only some can afford to buy

while the oven branded SA

half-bakes all makes,

it is almost always a brown

who cannot afford bread

even with state subsidies. 

 

What with electricity rsing

while less people eat

they won’t bake because

fires are dangerous to make.

 

White tastes nice, but doesn’t

sate or sit.

Ignore the alarms and each loaf is the same:

black, hard and carcinogenic.

“Brown, white or rye?”

Ciabatta, kitka, brioche, baguette, seed, banana, wholewheat or stone-flour.

 

I love bread.

I can afford hope.