A Trail of Cookie Crumbs

My fickle heart's working overtime
during hectic demands at work today
the pressures of supervisiory deadlines
unsatisfied customers who don't want to pay.

The familiar frustration of endless effort
energy flagging, insufficient for the task,
equilibrium not broken, just gone missing,
my cheer and competence but a concealing mask.

While seeking a way to maintain focus
occurred an image, a smell, a taste
evoking emotions of peace and warmth
inurring my soul against a world of desperate haste.

Nostalgic memory, veritible jewel in my mind
the chocolate chip cookie my mom used to bake
starts me planning a sacred mission
to find a piece of home for sanity's sake.

A local market has an ad on tv
saying "We're like family" with smiling faces,
but a bite of cookie was like dust and ashes
with disgruntled clients fighting for parking spaces.

I remembered a chic corner coffee shop
with fabulous, elegant morsels for sale
soothing surroundings, efficient, and fast
a distinctly odd flavor made my heart quail.

Pulling up in my driveway with a void in my heart
bracing myself to complete one more project
signs of activity meant the kids had come home
a filling, nutritious dinner, they expect.

Surveying the damage left over from dinner
I got an idea, changed our usual drill
to embark on a collabrative, creative, conspiracy
while towers of dishes encircled us still.

Children dusted with flour and bent over their toil
glowing faces intent, warmed my heart with their chatter
That's when I learned even cookies burnt in the oven
if made from the heart, have the flavor that matters!