NaPoWriMo 2021 – Poem #5

Chopping Onions

When I was younger
chopping onions
never made me cry

Back then,
special contacts – hard and rigid
protected me
from the burn

Now I understand,
my eyes – naked and unshielded
how each slice stings
eliciting tears

As I grow older,
I chop them – more and more
as if craving
the unbidden emotion
it stirs


NOTE: For today’s poem, I followed a prompt from Christina Thatcher – Read ‘cutting greens’ by Lucille Clifton. Answer this question: What is on your chopping board? Carrots, watermelon, poverty, sexism?

Image borrowed from simplejacki