MANDY MOE PWINT TU
Almond Cake
In another life, my father bakes.
He scours the Web for recipes, takes
blanched almond flour off acacia shelves
beats eggs and sprinkles sugar. He halves
the bourbon spilling into the mix.
(Some things only alcohol can fix.)
In another life, my father waits,
crouched by the oven door. Bloviates—
ticks off seconds on his fingertips.
Presses cream-tossed frosting to his lips,
proclaims perfection. The kettle sings
a hundred airy notes, and within:
our familiar voices blending.
We sit across each other, tending
to the slices, slender and sour-sweet.
In another life, my father keeps
pictures in the pockets of his coat
with rhymes and recipes I once wrote.
He carries them close on cloudy days.
In another life, my father stays.
Mandy Moe Pwint Tu is a writer and a poet from Yangon, Myanmar. Her work has appeared in Longleaf Review, Tint Journal, and perhappened mag, among others. She currently studies English at the University of the South. Find her on Twitter @mandrigall.