A Little Bit of Leaven

A Little Bit of Leaven

Jess Dahl

I was raised on white bread Jesus. Light and easy, sweet and mass produced.
Assembly line bread, a semblance of the ancient grains that sustained our ancestors similar in
name and not much else. Then the cancer showed. The modified seeds ravaged and ruined the
lives of our dearest ones. We thought we were nourishing them. Take of my bread and eat. We
shoved this stuff down our throats until we were sick, yet we're still so hungry;
God, why am I still so hungry?
But, in the corner of the hearth where I simmer my rage and eat until my mind is quiet, I see a
lump of dough not yet formed; rising, settling, growing. It sits, overlooked by eyes raised on a
diet of fluffy, white and perfect. It is punched down. Again it rises. It comes out of the fire
smaller than it should. It is dense, it is tough to chew, it is nourishing and it is what my tongue has
been craving. Oh. This is my body broken for you, take and eat.

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Jess Dahl
Poet & Ministry Leader

Jess is a ministry leader, teacher, and writer living in Seattle, Washington. Her poetry has been published in Fathom Magazine. You can find more of her work at jessicadahlwrites.wordpress.com or on Instagram at @itdoesntrhyme 

Photography by DDP