Possibilities

Being Alert to Possibilities

This morning I baked bread,
set the timer so I would not forget
the loaf in the oven. Though I should
not forget as the loaf itself reminds me
by offering a baked bread smell that stretches
from the kitchen to the hallway to me
when it is fully baked, warm and tempting.

But the timer is needed
as the rising aroma comes like a frog
in water, that most horrible of metaphors
explaining how that which is gradual can pass unnoticed.
Could that be what happens
to the moth that reaches the flame,
scorching those diaphanous wings beyond repair?

Was the light a glimmer seen in the distance
where the faint warmth went unnoticed?
Then, nearer, the warm gets warmer,
so slowly, as the light gets brighter.
Frogs in boiling water, moths to flames,
Would you like a happier metaphor
for the gradual increase that brings disaster?

I remember I did not notice
the smell of new baked bread.
I need the timer to measure time passing
Take care of self among so many possibilities
Bring alertness to the slow drift of a world burning.