WEBVTT

00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.350 align:middle line:90%


00:00:01.350 --> 00:00:06.150 align:middle line:84%
"Pumpernickel" is really
a change in gears here.

00:00:06.150 --> 00:00:11.154 align:middle line:84%
My grandmother made pumpernickel
and it was quite a--

00:00:11.154 --> 00:00:14.010 align:middle line:90%
in fact the poem came about--

00:00:14.010 --> 00:00:15.750 align:middle line:84%
a girlfriend many,
many years ago

00:00:15.750 --> 00:00:18.510 align:middle line:84%
told me she was making
bread, and I reminded her

00:00:18.510 --> 00:00:19.740 align:middle line:90%
of pumpernickel.

00:00:19.740 --> 00:00:21.780 align:middle line:84%
It had all these ingredients
that you couldn't

00:00:21.780 --> 00:00:27.300 align:middle line:84%
imagine would work together,
and that the bread suddenly

00:00:27.300 --> 00:00:29.940 align:middle line:90%
came about.

00:00:29.940 --> 00:00:32.759 align:middle line:84%
"Monday mornings, grandma
rose an hour early

00:00:32.759 --> 00:00:35.730 align:middle line:84%
to make rye, onion,
and challah, but it

00:00:35.730 --> 00:00:38.130 align:middle line:84%
was pumpernickel she
broke her hands for.

00:00:38.130 --> 00:00:42.240 align:middle line:84%
Pumpernickel that demanded
cornmeal, ripe caraway,

00:00:42.240 --> 00:00:45.510 align:middle line:84%
mashed potatoes, and several
Old Testament stories

00:00:45.510 --> 00:00:47.820 align:middle line:90%
about patience and fortitude.

00:00:47.820 --> 00:00:50.220 align:middle line:84%
And for which she
cursed in five languages

00:00:50.220 --> 00:00:54.840 align:middle line:84%
if it didn't pop out fat, as
an apple-cheeked peasant bride.

00:00:54.840 --> 00:00:57.690 align:middle line:84%
But bread, after
all, is only bread,

00:00:57.690 --> 00:01:01.620 align:middle line:84%
and who has time to fuss all
day and end up with a dead heart

00:01:01.620 --> 00:01:03.000 align:middle line:90%
if it flops?

00:01:03.000 --> 00:01:04.500 align:middle line:90%
Why bother?

00:01:04.500 --> 00:01:06.030 align:middle line:90%
I'll tell you why.

00:01:06.030 --> 00:01:08.760 align:middle line:84%
For the moment when
the steam curls off

00:01:08.760 --> 00:01:12.150 align:middle line:84%
the black crusts like a
strip of pure sunlight,

00:01:12.150 --> 00:01:15.900 align:middle line:84%
and the hard, oily flesh
breaks open like a poem,

00:01:15.900 --> 00:01:19.320 align:middle line:84%
pulling out of its own
stubborn complexity

00:01:19.320 --> 00:01:21.780 align:middle line:90%
a single, glistening truth.

00:01:21.780 --> 00:01:25.590 align:middle line:84%
And who can help but wonder at
the mystery of the human heart,

00:01:25.590 --> 00:01:28.080 align:middle line:84%
when you hold a slice
up to the light,

00:01:28.080 --> 00:01:30.360 align:middle line:90%
in all its absurd splendor.

00:01:30.360 --> 00:01:32.970 align:middle line:84%
And I tell you we
must risk everything

00:01:32.970 --> 00:01:36.470 align:middle line:84%
for the raw recipe
of our passion."

00:01:36.470 --> 00:01:40.000 align:middle line:90%