Small Forgotten Miracles: A Poem and a Writing Prompt
Last night's dinner Here's one of my all-time favorite poems from one of my all-time favorite contemporary poets, Naomi Shihab Nye . I love it for the deeply human significance it finds in something so "small and forgotten": The Traveling Onion It is believed that the onion originally came from India. In Egypt it was an object of worship--why I haven't been able to find out. From Egypt the onion entered Greece, and on to Italy, thence into all of Europe. -- Better Living Cookbook When I think how far the onion has traveled just to enter my stew today, I could kneel and praise all small forgotten miracles, crackly paper peeling on the drainboard, pearly layers in sooth agreement, the way knife enters onion, straight and onion falls apart on the chopping block, a history revealed. And I would never scold the onion for causing tears. It is right that tears fall for something small and forgotten. How at meal, we sit to eat, commenting...