Bernie's Bagel Bakery

This poem was inspired by FT Ledrew's "the relativity of gems" which inspired one of my own favorite childhood memories.

Bernie’s Bagel Bakery

 

They were perfectly white

white paper hats


white cotton gloves


white aprons over


white tee shirts


white duck pants


white flour dusted skin

 

each had a unique job

one kneaded a ball of dough

slamming it onto a slab

of marble countertop

then gathering it up

only to do it again

 

the next rolled the dough ball

like a kid playing with clay

while at random intervals

sprinkling it with water

flicked from fingers

dipped in a worn blue porcelain bowl

he rolled it into a snake

an inch and a half

in diameter and

passed it ghostlike

to another bleached baker

who cut it into

eight-inch lengths and

looped them into a rough circle

 

a patient soldier in the

army of white warriors

dipped every circle in water

 

and yet another

topped each with its signature

salt, onion, garlic,

poppy seeds 

or left it plain

 

I stood with my face pressed

against the big plate glass window

six-year old eyes wide

as the giant wooden spatula

two-handed all the raw dough into

a huge multi-tiered oven

 

the aroma

seeped through my pores

as he brought a full spatula

back on the out-stroke

sliding them off the wood

onto metal trays with the

bouquet of heaven rising as

a white faced midget sorted them

into individual baskets

 

that was the perfect moment

to reach into my pocket and

grab the 24 cents to pay for

an assorted dozen

and I held the

steaming paper bag under my nose

as I devoured a hot onion bagel

on my slow walk home

 

 

Reviews

[Gee]

Lovely,I was there with you,nose pressed to the window.What a splendid write

[rubie]

Thank you for your kind review!

[FaeryQueen]

cute and charming!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[rubie]

Thank you for your kind review.

[jeannemarie coulter]

love this very descriptive write...i became the child floating on scented dreams of onion bagels...wonderful...

[rubie]

I appreciate your very kind review.

[Adam Adams]

Excellent! Beautiful & so fascinating write, it is. You just showed me a play - stageplay through words. I tell you one thing, such writes're very hard even tough enough to get bled along cause most of the times, we ain't get proper words to pluck off the head & let it gently slip down unto the barren sheets with modifications but I must say, undoubtedly, you did.. even do a very phenomenal job here. You make everything so easy going, every scenario you've shown through words, every scene - the moment - the memory of your life-time, you've nicely & so smoothly rendered to this page.. in guise of systematic predisposition of words. What a perfectionism! Great job!

[rubie]

Thank you so much for your review, which is better than the poem itself, in my opinion!
Much appreciated!

[Marie]

That sounds wonderful. I never saw bagels created that way, but I would like to, and I would like to eat a fresh one...

[rubie]

Back in the day, there were plenty of bakeries where I lived that did this....
They were heavenly.
Thanks for the visit.

[~]

A dreamy memory.

Drenched in sensory details that create a marvelous painting of beautiful childhood.

[rubie]

Thank you for the lovely review, moonskittles.
Much appreciated.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

I could see, hear, taste, touch and smell the shop, the bagels...even the one you were devouring on the way home....a priceless memory...paid for without a visa...but actual cents and sense.

j.

[rubie]

Love your review, my friend!
Thanks so much.

[....................]

I was there, my face pressed to the glass next to you, watching the white garbed soldiers at work... i could even smell the bagels, still steaming hot in the bag...this is a fantastically vivid painting of a childhood memory, Rubie and I am overwhelmed that my scribble could inspire such a write... I love this, from the alliterative title to the repeated whites and right up to the smell of onion and garlic...now I am repeating myself....

Geez, now I want a bagel but I've already eaten my toast...I guess it's a bagel for lunch

[rubie]

Thank you for your kind review, my friend. The imagery in your musing was so powerful, that it not only brought me right to those craggy cliffs with you, but sent me back to my own favorite childhood memories, which fill the senses and soothe the soul.

[....................]

It is great to be able to relive those precious moments... your poem will have me lost in memories for the rest of the day...you are most kindly welcome, always :D

[rubie]

I've been smelling those bagels myself all morning.....