Francis of the Poor For Pope Francis, who visited the Philippines, January 15-19, 2015

by Jonel Abellanosa

As he walks among them
Clouds gather and say to each other
Let us bless him.  Let us bless them. 
                    Let us bless their nation.
And so it rains lightly all day
And drizzle never feels as good
As water heals

They who have less of the world
Have this one moment
This is their place of inheritance
In their hearts
To shelter in
When storms return
Their futures remain uncertain
But one man who obeys
The two commandments to love
And rises
To live by example,
Whose life unfolds like
Pages of Holy Scripture,
Shows them they matter,
That they are important to him
So they love him in return
Millions of them
In his humility he is honored
To be embraced
As one of their own

One

by Jonel Abellanosa

To be closer to his material, flour.
Trial and error taught him to layer,
Taught him to crisp or soften surfaces.

Pages prodding try the pita, grissini, Stollen,
Zwieback, try new forms, flavored crusts,
Hues of black forest, brown, gold.

Shaping finger rolls like painting
Inscapes, hand movements hypnotic,
Inward rolls rhythmic .

Baguettes lengthen his meditations.
He braids concentration like Challah,
Sprinkling poppy seeds on plaits.

Cottage, Vienna, fruit, farmhouse
Loaves.  Each croissant like a face
He loved.  Self-portraits of wheat, rye.

Imagining the peel in his powdered hands,
Visualizing larger fire, basil and garlic
Filling the room with changed air

Spreading marmalades of recall
On toast: aroma of the father imago –
Why he became artificer of dough.

This morning, before the painters arrived,
He tried his self-taught measure on pan de sal.
One failed to rise to the desired size

Yet no other held longer his
Rumination to his artistic flaws,
No other point angled the interior light.