Thoughts On Being an Onion

I don’t want

to be an onion

any longer.

I am tired of 

layer after layer

of sorrow and pain,

anger and hatred,

lies and betrayal…

Peeled away

only to find

yet more layers…

I don’t like

that cutting me open

often makes

those close to me

cry, 

and that

when eaten

alone

I am sometimes

bitter

to the taste.

I want

to be a pear.

A sweet

succulent pear

whose first bite

draws you in

and every bite

until the very last one

leaves you satisfied

with pleasure 

and sweetness.

Or maybe

a pomegranate,

with each

kernel

so sweet

and precious

that others

would spend

long hours

mining for 

my fruit.

Sigh…

but we don’t

get to choose

these things

in life…

So I must

be content

to accept

what I am

and to offer

what I have.

To understand

that only when

I am cut open

and mixed with others

and cooked over the fire,

when my own flavor

is given up 

for the good

of the whole,

that the true value

of what I offer

comes to fruition.

rgeorge, March 6, 2008