Sound & Sense, 2-83

Time for more instances of the homophone: a word pronounced the same as another but differing in meaning, whether spelled the same way or not, as heir and air.

1. Knead (verb): to prepare dough by pressing with your hands; to pres and squeeze a person’s muscles with your hands.
2. Kneed (verb—past tense of knee): to hit (a person) with your knee
3. Need (noun): a situation in which someone or something must do or have something; a strong feeling that you must have or do something; (verb): to be needful or necessary; to be in want; require

When he was baking bread (a need
So powerful: he hoped to feed
His fam’ly for a week), he’d speed

Along, sans recipe, and take
A lot of time—and then he’d bake
All afternoon. One day … mistake.

You need, of course, to knead the dough—
It helps when you are fierce and slow—
Then watch the mixtures rise and grow. 

But he forgot to knead the bread—
He had some foreign beers instead.
And woke up later in his bed

Without a single memory
Of his routine. He went to see.
The dough cried out: “Now you must be

Attentive, Dude! Know where it’s at!
And be alert—yes, that is that!
If not, you see, I turn out flat!”

He felt as if he had been kneed—
Or, like a possum, had been treed.
Oh, such a dire, neglectful deed!