that pervasive aroma when he
entered a bakery that aroused him
wasnt its sticky sweet scents
its humid warmth slick icings nutmeats or sugar an
cinnamon
it was its breads
the earthy smell of yeast
their grains
heady texture
he was attracted to the round
loaves
like river stones
how perfectly they fit in his hands
how he tipped their bottoms up to his nose to smell tore out irregular gobs daubed them with smears of butter and jam
stones never to feel the steel
of blades
he tried not to bite his fingers
and thumbs as he gobbled their warm bodies swinishly
he didnt remember how he got
there
he blinked and found himself
standing between white metal and glass display counters filled with sweets and
coffecakes samples on top them in small crepe cups
but it was wicker baskets filled with long breads in paper sleeves
at the endcaps
that caught his eye and directed him beyond them to the shelves behind glass
doors like barristers bookcases that held bricks of bread and round stone
loaves
lifting the doors he smelled
their warm breaths
but it was three loaves in
particular on the second shelf that beckoned him that he picked up without the
offered paper slips and barehanded he gentled them into pink-striped waxbags
he held the three in one arm
across his chest and as he walked up between the counters to the shoppe front
the yellow daylight and blue passing through the plate glass windows flickered
it was stunning
it stopped him in midstride
it flickered once again
then went black
coal oil black
where light didnt venture
and
there wasnt a chance his eyes would grow accustom to it to see a damn thing
he almost imagined himself cane
in hand slashing the space before him around him in a panic to strike a single thing
that would reveal in its wounding what it was
he only imagined because it was useless the cane wouldnt find anything it would whistle harmlessly in the dank
that was beginning to cool without the sun
he was anxious to forget this beginning and get on to what was to happen
he quelled his impatience
smelled the bread
and waited
waited
Which of your five senses would
you give up
this occurred inside his head
it was not said aloud he believed a disembodied womans voice in the blackness
Not my eyes or ears he uttered aloud
the words ejected from out his mouth struck the atmosphere and were broken into bits and letters
he didnt hear
anything in the blackness either
So were really only talking about
three senses
he felt the comfort of loaves in
his arms
Were talking about two senses
he smelled the breads
they cheated taste
Id kill off my sense of taste
Youd give up your sense of
taste she said
Taste
Last chance
Taste
he felt his arm pull away from
his chest not that he moved it not that he could feel it being pulled
it felt what coercion
felt like
the loaves didnt fall
he could feel them still against
his chest
warming
then at his hand forearm the inside
of his elbow he felt something else
something
silken against his skin
under his fingers he felt ribs
under his arm he felt lungs
swell xhale
a breath on his face
the loaves warming
a mouth at his mouth
it moved away from his
You dont like the taste of my
mouth you wouldnt want to taste my mouth
I said taste
not the taste of your
mouth
for an instant he thought he
could see the blackness radiate shiver like a veil
flickering yellow and blue
a
halo around a visage before his eyes
flickering again
seeming
to catch
the mouth returned to his mouth a playful nip at his lip laughter
arms surrounded him
his arms went around
her
he closed his eyes
he smelled the loaves at his
chest
they didnt smell like bread
anymore
dull red ouros appeared through
his eyelids
Look
It is the first sense you refused to give up
he opened his eyes
her eyes
looked back into his
he glimpsed down between them
the warm loaves were now her breasts
You have a name for me she
asked
Awa he said
1454, Monday,
26 4. 16
0204, Day-between-Two-Ts, 27 4.
16
