The Baker's Oven
after Rumi
in the heat of the oven fire that burns away the dross of flour and reduces the proud loaves to humble bread i see the face of the beloved in the curve of a perfectly baked crust and the fragrance that wafts from the oven is the scent of the divine
in the baker’s workshop i find solace from the absurdities of human pride for in the simple act of mixing and kneading i am reminded of the beauty of surrender and the joy of being shaped by a greater hand
the dough rises like a lover’s sigh and falls like a repentant’s tears and in its transformations i see the truth of the fleeting nature of human desire
I took from Rumi the use of everyday imagery to convey spiritual longing, and applied it to the subject of baking, which would have been familiar to him. I tried to capture the sense of surrender and transformation that is present in his work.