Open Fire Breakfast

 

Open Fire Breakfast

(“Hey! Come, everyone who thirsts, to the waters! Come, he who has no money, buy, and eat! Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.” Isaiah 55:1)

Did you ever have one of those skillet breakfasts
in the forest cooked over an open fire? The eggs
and cheese and ham and peppers
sometimes cooked at home
but never tasting better in the smoke and resin
and dew. Even a tuna fish sandwich
tastes better outdoors.

Did you ever camp next to someone who motioned
you over
and shared that frittata with you, ashes clinging to
the cast iron pan? If you talked, I am sure
you do not remember the conversation now,
but the taste of kindling and coffee last
at least a decade or two.

The recipe in your kitchen and the
one over the coals
are identical.
But one tastes so free, stays so close to
your memory.

And so, we savor the divine. An invitation. A fellow
pilgrim disguised in flannel. I only wish you, my friend,
had invited me in.