An Ode to Tuscan Bread

Oh, pane toscano,
Most unassuming of all the breads,
Teach me to be more like you!
You enter a meal without expectations
You come without even thinking to cover your plainness with a little salt
And you present yourself fearlessly and unapologetically,
exactly as you are, for all to see.
You are beguiling in your guilelessness-- without secrets or surprises
And in this too-rapidly-evolving world of constant change,
You stand alone in your unrelenting commitment to simplicity
And the world as it once was.
And because of that raw simplicity and pure candor,
you are a friend to all!
Leftover spicy tomato sauce?
That last bit of truffle?
They are not too strong or too overwhelming for you!
Where other breads seek only to compete or to conquer,
You accept everyone exactly as they are
And you are as complimentary as you are complementary.
You take fragrant oils and fegato
And help them to reach their very best
And it is because of you that we get to perform that essential nightly ritual
of fare una scarpetta.
By bringing all the flavors of a meal together,
Like a dozen voices singing in harmony,
You remind us that life is too short to disagree,
Yet you humbly decline to accept any of the credit
For a meal much-enjoyed.
Oh, Tuscan bread, most constant, un-changing dinnertime companion
Though those who don't understand you will judge you for your plainness
And cry out that you are too basic, too restrained, too boring
I hope that you will scarpetta those haters, right out of your path
Because it is you, you perfect loaf of bread, you
That prove, beyond a doubt,
That at least when it comes to salt,
Sometimes less really is more.