By Shirley Cambray

It was baking day in the kitchen
And let everyone beware
Mom’s trying a new recipe,
Interrupt her if you dare.

Ingredients carefully measured,
Oven set at 350 degrees.
Everything done in proper order,
For a cake Mom hoped would please.

With butter, eggs and sugar added,
Flour, milk and chocolate too,
Vanilla by the teaspoon
All stirred together until smooth.

The cake should rise, but could fall
If we jiggled or jumped on the floor,
And the very worst thing would be
If someone slammed the door.

From the bowl to a heart-shaped pan,
And then into the oven it went
We watched through the oven window
To enjoy this magical event.

We tried to keep very still
As the minutes slowly ticked by,
But it’s hard not to wiggle
When your hopes are so high.

Now the cake was slowly rising
As we sat in wonder on the floor.
Then we heard Dad’s voice shout out
“I’m home”, just as he slammed the door.