Lemon Cake Squares

“There among the trees, / the yellow of the lemons is revealed; / and the chill in the heart / thaws, and deep in us / the golden horns of sunlight / pelt their songs,” Eugenio Montale observes in his poem “The Lemons,” and I wonder if it is trite to apply his words to lemon bars. But I can’t deny that on chilly winter afternoons, a burst of lemon glaze and a bite of lemon cake has this same effect on my soul.