Substitutions for Buttermilk

Shelter in Place, Day 16

Find acid to induce curdling– lemon or vinegar

so many things taste sour nowadays

Let sit for 15 minutes

how quickly things can change

Is half and half a better approximate?

I was only allowed one 

jug of milk at the store

Mixing butter and milk won’t do it

just another failure of language,

  like social distancing or camera phone

There wasn’t any sugar in the store either

they say it like wartime almost, 

victory gardens again, can we do 

without with that much dignity? 

I feel hardly as brave

Borrowing a cup from the neighbors seems risky

never have we needed each other more

Maybe I will bake the cake next week

will we learn anything 

from this practice of waiting?

Maybe it will be safe to go out again before the fires come

nearby smoke, reason to stay inside, 

reason to prepare to leave quickly

Who has all the buttermilk, the sugar, the money

what are you saving it for?

When was toilet paper even invented?

we existed before it did, 

and jail cells, and 2-day delivery, ATMs

Didn’t buttermilk come from what was left over, anyway?

after this, after all this, 

can we make something sweet 

from what is left behind?