bubble, bubble, toil and trouble
jeff stumpo
yes, the word yeast derives from gyst, the root for that simply
yes, meaning boil, foam, or bubble, and how we cackle
at our rising sourdough starter, pungent as a witch’s brew,
what alchemists we are, turning dust and water
into bread, eat of our body of knowledge, this kitchen a bridge
between the arcane and the scientific, we mad
with discovery, Lisa telling us the mother dough is older
than our country, pulled apart and rebuilt in the ritual of consumption,
we four Doctors Frankenstein crying out
it’s alive - and we pause for effect and grin - it’s alive
jeff stumpo
JeFF Stumpo is author of five chapbooks of poetry (most through Seven Kitchens Press) and a spoken word album, husband to a PhD chemist, father to an amazing trans child, survivor of psychosis and PTSD, and his work has won the Subnivean Award for Poetry, placed 2nd for the Joy Harjo Prize, and been shortlisted for the Plaza Prose Poetry Prize, with additional poems recently published or forthcoming in such journals as DMQ Review, The Journal, RHINO, and Puerto del Sol. He has a (poor) website at www.JeFFStumpo.com.