Matzo
Baked in haste
“Cooked in 18 minutes”
Says the package
Flat like humility
Free from life’s leaven
All that puffs you up
All that inflates you

Not so much wonder bread
As wonder-what-happened bread
Kneaded down and poked through
Baked until almost burnt

A taste of history
Of despair turned to cautious hope
The original eat-and-run food
Munched by generation after
Generation after
Generation

I am not a Jew
Yet I understand
Why they still eat it—

Plus, it’s not bad
With honey

J. Brian Broome was born in Marietta, Georgia and grew up in Homewood, Alabama. In addition to Georgia and Alabama, he has lived in Florida, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, and Mississippi. He currently resides in Tennessee with his wife Robin and their cats Miles, Hermione, and Muffin.