Bright as a Planet at 73

Poem and artwork by Linda Simone   

    …as bright as a planet/and fated/to shine

            —Pablo Neruda, Ode to the Onion

Making this exotic dish

from a land it’s too late to visit,

I start with one yellow onion,

lowly underground swell

plucked in its prime

by faceless farmhand,

shoots removed, root dried.

I choose you!

Solidly packed sphere—

organic, dear.

Steadying you on my wooden board,

I cut crosswise

reveal bands

tightest at center

fed by earth

warmed under sun’s white bulb,

sienna-tinged petals

poised to bloom.

Slices fall like crescent moons.

I dice despite tears.

Butter sizzles, foams,

pieces slide into chrome skillet

pinch of salt.

Five minutes of heat and, like me,

we no longer resemble how we started,

softer now, fragrant, golden.

Hear Linda read her poem:

Bright as a Planet at 73Linda Simone

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Linda Simone is a poet and watercolor artist. Her publications include The River Will Save Us (Kelsay Books), Archeology (Flutter Press), and Moon: A Poem (Richard C. Owen Publishers). Her poems have been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and have appeared in numerous journals, most recently The Vincent Brothers Review and Formidable Woman. They also pop up in anthologies, on buses, in storefront windows, and on restaurant menus. Originally from New York, Simone lives in San Antonio, TX.

Image, "Pink Moon Rising," courtesty of the author.