A friend brought me the most beautiful onions I’ve ever seen with papery cream outer layers and firm juicy insides. They chopped up beautifully, adding the perfect zing to tuna fish, soup, and our favorite marinara sauce. They also reminded me of my youth. My artist mother often got so engrossed in her painting that she forgot dinnertime was approaching. So, to give her a few extra minutes to extricate herself from her project, she’d chop up an onion and let it gently sauté. This way my sister and I would think dinner was on the way, even if it wasn’t quite yet. It worked like a charm every time.
Recently, like my mother, I put some onions on to sauté. But, instead of giving me those few extra minutes to wrap up my writing project, those onions inspired a poem. To use my teapot analogy, I wrote the following little poem in a frenzy of paper scraps at the kitchen counter, while simultaneously chopping and sautéing onions for dinner.
Bon Appetit!
ODE TO AN ONION
by
Laura Sassi
“Oh, pungent, pungent onion,”
Cook slices, dices, sighs.
“Why is it that your skin is thin,
Yet I’m the one who cries?”
Cute poem! I’m lucky to have contacts guard my eyes from onion fumes!
Ha! Funny, adorable poem! I love the onion cooking stall tactic.
Hmm…I’m guilty of popping some bread in the toaster to toss onto the plates of those too hungry to wait a little longer for dinner. If only my ancient toaster wouldn’t burn so quickly without vigilant tending. Love the onion poem!
It’s a perfect poem, Laura!
Love it. And what a sweet story about your mom!
Perfect, Laura! Those onions look gorgeous. I love fall produce.
What a great mom story! And the sheer cleverness of the poem brought tears to my eyes.
oooo, nice, Laura, very nice! What a punch that last line has!
The lowly Onion is a beautiful thing, I agree. Try them stuffed and baked.
Maybe we cry because they are so good?
Nice! I too saute onions quite often. Love the smell and the flavor they add to foods.
Good question! I’m thinned skinned like the onion, but like the onion, I’ve learned to not show my tears. :+0
Lovely story about your mom – I’m going to have to try that trick
And LOVE your poem 
Love the poem! And love your mother’s idea. Hmmm, wonder if my husband will buy that trick. I might have to try it!
Great story! Love that mom trick. And the poem brings a tear to my eye. Hee hee!
I love your mom story, though I somehow imagne in my house it would end with the smoke alarm going off! Cute poem!
Thanks, everyone. And just so you know, my mother painted in the kitchen, near the sink, where the lighting was good so she was never very far away from those onions. In honor of her and the onion, I’m putting my first soup of the fall on to simmer today.
LOL! Great little poem–the last line is perfect! Great anecdote, too!
I love this! It’s brilliant, AND it reminds me of ‘The Reluctant Dragon,’ which gives you double points.