The Onion

Look at your hands Now imagine you have no fingernails None the ends are smooth and round now imagine there is something slick on the end of your fingers Rub it around Before you is an onion Its very large Its white It is not sweet It will burn You must peel the onion It is trussed in its shell the decaying outer shell But you cannot harm the onion How will you peel it? You have no nails You have no knife Your fingers are slick How will you peel it? There is always a flaw a crack, a fissure and you will work your finger around it it will be difficult You must be patient For you may not harm the onion You must rub the shiny dead skin along the crack, the flaw until it opens And then you will cry Remember The onion is not sweet The onion will burn Every layer of the onion must be peeled. It is tedious It is time consuming It is frustrating It burns It makes you cry but you must not harm the onion You may not toss it the air You may not smash it on the table you may not use a knife Nor a nail Nor anything sharp for the onion is fragile Time is what the onion needs Every layer is thicker and harder every layer will burn every layer will make you cry but you must not harm the onion In the onion there is a core it is the most fragile It is the sweetest part of the onion it will not make you cry As you cup it in your hands you realize you’ve spent so much time peeling the onion the other pieces the outer shell are withering and dying And you are left with the sweet core Peel your onion but do not harm the onion for it contains your sweetest core