Bread of Forgetting

Artifact

Ingredients: 3 cups stone-ground rye flour 1 tsp active dry yeast 1 cup rainwater collected during a summer drought 2 tbsp honey from bees that have never seen a flower 1 pinch of salt gathered from a widow's cheek (taken during the first hour of mourning) The echo of a door closing on a secret (captured in a copper jar) One silver needle, for stirring Instructions: 1. Sift the rye flour into a heavy ceramic bowl. Ensure there are no clumps; a clump in the flour creates a snag in the forgetting, leaving a jagged edge of a memory that will itch for years. 2. Dissolve the yeast in lukewarm rainwater. Stir clockwise with the silver needle. If the yeast fails to foam, the memory is too stubborn to be removed; discard the batch and wait for a new moon. 3. Fold in the honey and the widow's salt. The salt provides the necessary bitterness to detach the heart from the event. 4. Open the copper jar and pour the echo directly into the center of the well. Work quickly. The sound will dissipate if it touches the air for more than three seconds. 5. Knead the dough by hand for exactly twenty minutes. You must push the memory deep into the gluten, folding it over and over until the texture is smooth and the specific pain is no longer a distinct shape, but a general weight. 6. Place the dough in a greased bowl and cover with a damp linen cloth. Let it proof in a dark corner where no one speaks. Warning: Do not over-proof the dough. If the loaf rises past the rim of the bowl, the erasure expands. You may find you have forgotten not only the trauma, but your mother's face or the way you like your tea. Keep a sharp eye on the clock. 7. Shape into a tight round. Score a single, clean line across the top with a razor; this is the incision that lets the grief escape during the bake. 8. Bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes. The crust should be the color of a bruised plum. 9. Eat one slice while warm, focusing your mind entirely on the image you wish to delete. Chew slowly. Once you swallow, the space where the memory lived will close. It will feel like a sudden draft in a room, then a silence, then nothing at all.