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1. Shape Notice
“Swirl” was used colloquially
to imply return,
as if curvature were a contract.
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In practice,
the geometry is a spiral:
it approaches itself
without ever meeting.
03
This is not a flaw.
This is how hunger works,
how weather works,
how most vows behave
once introduced to air.
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Do not confuse resemblance
with reunion.
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2. Ingredients List (Withheld)
What goes in:
— flour that wants to be held together
— yeast, a small unlicensed optimism
— peels and ends, the polite refuse
— yesterday’s grounds, already spent but fragrant
— a message you reread until it changes species
— apologies cooling on the counter, still pliable
— the part of you that said soon and meant not now.
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What comes out:
— warmth with no opinion
— lift that looks like proof
— a smell that says almost
in a language the body believes
before it can translate.
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Missing ingredient:
the thing you were certain
you added.
The one that would make it make sense.
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3. Proofing Is Not Proof
The dough rises
in the dark
like a thought you didn’t authorize.
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This is not evidence.
This is metabolism.
10
A finger pressed to the surface
will return a number
(springy / slack / stubborn),
but numbers are terrible at predicting
what a mouth will forgive.
11
Do not interrogate the bowl
for a verdict.
You will get texture,
not truth.
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4. On Aromatics
Cinnamon may resemble comfort.
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This is coincidence.
14
Cinnamon is bark
performing warmth
because heat is persuasive
and the brain is easy to bribe.
15
If you find yourself moved,
consider the possibility
you are only responding
to sugar’s confidence,
its ability to pretend
everything is meant to be shared.
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5. The Heap, As Insert
Somewhere else,
a pile keeps doing its slow work
with the same indifference
the oven displays.
17
Rot does not interpret.
It does not resolve.
It doesn’t even remember
what it breaks down.
18
And yet:
it will take anything you give it:
rinds, stems, bruises,
the soft failures of a plan,
and convert them
into usable dark.
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Not redemption.
Utility.
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6. Misleading Vapors
Steam may resemble
something leaving.
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It isn’t.
22
It’s water
renegotiating its shape
because conditions changed.
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The bun is not exhaling.
The heap is not confessing.
Neither is impressed
by your attention.
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If you lean in
and swear you can smell a sign,
please note:
your longing has excellent lungs.
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7. Contamination Report
Certain phrases persist
through kneading, through turning,
through heat that should sterilize.
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It’s for the best.
You’ll see.
We should do this again sometime.
27
They remain intact,
hard little seeds
no one planted on purpose.
28
You can fold them in.
You can bury them deep.
You can ice over their edges
until they shine.
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They keep their teeth.
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8. Serving Suggestions
Pull them apart
while they’re still too hot,
burn your fingertips a little,
learn the old lesson:
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what’s shared
is not always chosen.
Sometimes it’s simply
what doesn’t survive whole.
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Eat without proving you deserve it.
Taste without narrating it.
Let sweetness be sweetness,
not a treaty.
33
If someone asks
how you made them,
say: time,
heat,
and a refusal
to keep checking.
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9. Weather Addendum
Rain accelerates everything
without improving the outcome.
35
Sun does the same.
Humidity will enter
whether invited or not.
The air’s soft insistence
that nothing stays sealed.
36
The sea, if nearby,
will keep looking like broth:
suspended, warm, continuing,
as if continuation were easy
and not just automatic.
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10. Pending Revision
Further amendments may be issued
after fermentation finishes
doing whatever it is
doing.
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Until then,
avoid conclusions.
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The center is still tender.
The heap is still alive with small work.
Language is still stretchable,
elastic enough
to hold a shape
without promising it will last.