Lebkuchen
One Christmas Eve
a day or two after
someone rammed a twenty-five ton lorry
through the Berlin festive markets,
my German neighbour knocked at the door
with a gift of lebkuchen
I think of her now
at work in her kitchen
the mirror image of my own.
loading the table with sugar and flour,
butter, almonds, nutmeg and ginger
to conjure up the smells of home
Twisting and pinching
the dough into delicate shapes,
creating a sweetly spiced
Hansel and Gretel forest
of trees and stars
of hedgehogs, squirrels and mice,
all carefully iced
with the unwritten message
that stuck to her lips
It's been a terrible year-
A terrible year.