{"id":16,"date":"2014-04-15T14:48:19","date_gmt":"2014-04-15T14:48:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/d65068a3-9648-42e7-b248-b4e4ff56e037"},"modified":"2014-04-15T14:48:19","modified_gmt":"2014-04-15T14:48:19","slug":"rituals-shared-a-new-poem-by-joseph-anthony","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/?p=16","title":{"rendered":"Rituals Shared, a New Poem by Joseph Anthony"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rituals Shared<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

By<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

Joseph Anthony<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/o:p><\/p>\n

Sweeping the stoop of the shop with quick,
\nbrisk motions,<\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Scattering maple tree seeds into helicoptering
\nswirls,<\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Pausing to look at the rising spring sun, he
\nremoves his hat,<\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Wipes his brow, squints at the sky, hears the
\ndistant, <\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Early morning train, then thanks God for
\nanother day <\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Of doing what he loves. <\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Slowly he resumes his dance with the broom,
\nbreathing in<\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Images of his children and grandchildren,
\nbreathing out <\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Whispered apologies for losing his patience
\nthe day before, <\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Resolving to remember he was young once too.<\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

He turns, pushes open the screen door that
\nrings the little <\/span><\/p>\n

Bells a<\/span>t the top of the frame, enters the shop,
\nturns the <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cCome in <\/span>We\u2019re Open\/Sorry We\u2019re Closed\u201d sign to <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cCome
\nin We\u2019re <\/span>Open.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Brewing coffee aroma winds its way into his
\nwidening <\/span><\/p>\n

Nostrils a<\/span>s he breathes deeply possibilities and <\/span><\/p>\n

Remembrances, h<\/span>e ties the white apron around his waist, <\/span><\/p>\n

Thanks God f<\/span>or another day o<\/span>f doing
\nwhat he loves, <\/span><\/p>\n

And then begins,<\/span><\/p>\n

First pausing to look down<\/span> <\/span>at the
\nbread board, <\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

He then sweeps his hand across the cool
\nsurface<\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

With the same tenderness he has used for half
\na century.<\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

He takes out the silver bowl of dough from the
\ngleaming, <\/span><\/p>\n

Silver r<\/span>efrigerator, lifts the white cloth that
\ncovers the bowl,<\/span><\/p>\n

Folds it neatly into a square and places it
\nnearby. <\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

He then tosses three handfuls of flour across <\/span><\/p>\n

The bread board, l<\/span>ifts the dough allowing it to exhale <\/span><\/p>\n

And
\nspread, <\/span>and as he begins k<\/span>neading he sings, <\/span><\/p>\n

Sings morning prayers, f<\/span>illing his lungs w<\/span>ith the fragrance <\/span><\/p>\n

Of baking bread, <\/span><\/p>\n

And his
\nheart with d<\/span>evotion t<\/span>o Saint Elizabeth, <\/span><\/p>\n

And for a moment h<\/span>e is
\ntransported t<\/span>o the Basilica <\/span><\/p>\n

Of Santa Maria in ancient <\/span>Rome; <\/span><\/p>\n

H<\/span>e kneels before the infant, folds his hands
\nto pray,<\/span><\/p>\n

And as he does loaves of bread spill from his
\narms,<\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Turning into heaps of roses, and he weeps,<\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Weeps knowing he saw the infant nod,<\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

And then he rises, rises and smiles, thanking
\nGod <\/span><\/p>\n

For another day o<\/span>f doing what he loves, <\/span><\/p>\n

And as he rises the
\nlittle bells ring,<\/span><\/p>\n

Ring at the opening of the door to the shop,
\nbringing him <\/span><\/p>\n

Back t<\/span>o the kneading, back to his hands, and he
\nbeams,<\/span><\/p>\n

Beams a greeting to the customer who has come
\nas he does<\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Every morning for coffee, for bread, and for
\nthe humanity <\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Of rituals shared.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

 <\/o:p><\/p>\n

 <\/font><\/p>\n


<\/font><\/p>\n

Thank you for your kind donations to the Wonder Child Blog<\/font><\/p>\n


\n\"\"
\n<\/form>\n

Copyright Joseph Anthony of the Wonder Child Blog<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rituals Shared By Joseph Anthony   Sweeping the stoop of the shop with quick, brisk motions, Scattering maple tree seeds into helicoptering swirls, Pausing to look at the rising spring sun, he removes his hat, Wipes his brow, squints at the sky, hears the distant, Early morning train, then thanks God for another day Of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}