Sonnet for the Pastry Chef

Winter rolls you like a doughboy     brushed
with butter and ready to bake     some exotic
Austrian pastry perhaps     enough to feed a cavalry
or empty out the graveyard of a monastery 
when opioid deaths still pass uncounted along
the length of the old canal     passing shadows
cast by rampant growth bamboo     or any
other less than welcome intruder that spreads
its footprint and claims a place     the Jesuits
don’t care     locked as they are in thirst of wisdom
parsing their dreams inside the flat dimensions
of the page     edging towards the fragile membrane
that separates the cream from simple milk 
oven ready and only waiting for the crust to burn. 

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Paul Ilechko is a British/American poet. Born in South Yorkshire, he now lives with his partner in Lambertville, NJ. His work has appeared in a variety of journals, including The Night Heron Barks, Louisiana Literature, Iron Horse Literary Review, Clackamas Literary Review, and Book of Matches. His first album, “Meeting Points”, was released in 2021.