A Baker’s Wife
Tara Tulshyan
Red bean bread is not hard to make.
The man who threw cigarettes at me
guided my hands around the dough,
knotting it into itself. I added three cups
of sugar for good luck. Pray that it is sweet
enough or else he will fill me up with it.
The sweetness disappears when the bun
goes under the fire. He teaches me how
to ground the steamed beans, tells me to add
more honey for good measure. The beans
still have shells in them, some that don’t
disappear even when cooked. While folding
the paste into the pockets of dough, he relights
the fire. His hands heavy, scalding
when he presses it onto my skin. He smiles.
Tara Tulshyan is a sophomore living in the Philippines. Her works have appeared on, or are forthcoming in DIALOGIST, Rising Phoenix Review and K’in Literary Journal, among others. She is currently working on a collection of short stories.