Probably Wrong Recipe

Nicholas Lieu '28

I probably made it wrong. 

Probably spent too much time away from it 

and too little time kneading it.

I let soft dough stand out by itself,

So I probably shouldn’t be shocked

that it fell. 

I thought of you. 

How you stiffened dough 

with rough smacks of flour. 

How day after day, you pressed and hammered.

until it could stand alone.

I probably could do that;

I remember your recipe’s etching.

Then again, it probably hurt a little.

Standing on raw legs,

shaped by hands not its own.

Yes, it did hurt. 

No, it’s yours. 

I’d rather write

my wrongs, 

than bake myself,

as you to me.