Let Them Read Cake

Let Them Read Cake


An apostrophe out of place

A contorted face of the one

Who cant find the words -

The ingredients lost behind the ketchup

And the mustard

And the hot sauce.

The world turns over in her mind

This time she tries to sift it out,

But her sieve's not working

So she tries to strain her thoughts

Through a coffee filter

But the sediment still gets to her

And the taste is bitter -

Her cake will be flat if she acts like that.

She stirs it once, stirs it twice

Trying again to find the words -
Ones she's overheard

In a lifetime of conversations

Some her own and some for the taking -


In dimly lit restaurants

And smoky little haunts

On the streets and in the theatres

She tries to find some meter

She'll starve if the words dont feed her

Insatiable appetite for worldly harmony

Wordy things so hard to find and define.

Yet she persists,

Is it art? Is it science?

Is it conscious?

Is it meaningless?

Still, it's heating in the oven -

Five more minutes and the toothpick's clean

She's got this one down again.

She delicately folds her grandmother's note,

Places it gently

In the recipe box

In the back of her mind

Remembers the words, and gives it time.


~Darkling Plain, Aug. 23, 2006