The aroma of dough stirring awake fills the sleeping house.

The hands meet water flowing from the American faucet in the stainless-steel kitchen sink. The palms rub, in preparatory prayer.

They uncover the stainless-steel bowl and set it on the counter.

Inhale.

Remember.

Oil.

The fingers peel the edges of the dough, one side sticky, another reluctant.

There, the mass, alive, relaxes on fingertips, surrenders to oily palms.

When they lay the living mound on the wooden board dusted with flour, the hands become the hands of a grandmother dead fifteen years–strong, wise, resilient, generous hands that blessed every morning with the making of bread.

Inhale.

Fold.

One, two, three, four.

Remember.

Turn, fold, turn.

Again. 

Inhale.

Remember.

Now let it rest. It will rise.

Edvige Giunta has published Writing with an Accent: Contemporary Italian American Women Authors and several coedited anthologies, including The Milk of Almonds and Personal Effects. Her writing appears in Creative Nonfiction, Mutha Magazine, Jellyfish Review, and other magazines. Her coedited anthology Talking to the Girls: Intimate and Political Essays on the Triangle Fire will be published in 2022 by New Village Press. edvigegiunta.com; https://twitter.com/edigiunta.