Laura Grace Weldon
What the Onion Teaches
Anything, seen wholly,
teaches everything.
Take a raw onion, harsh to its core.
Unpeel, unring, and hold to the light.
It is complete as the soil, sun, and rain
of its making.
Sauté the rings in oil
till the onion relaxes into itself,
elevating everything added next.
This looking, this warmth, and trust
is how the prisoner finds Shakespeare,
the lonely child discovers trees,
the battered woman pulls away layers
ready to be seen.
Bio
Laura Grace Weldon is the author of a poetry collection titled Tending (Aldrich Press, 2013) and a handbook of alternative education, Free Range Learning (Hohm Press, 2010). Laura has written poetry with nursing home residents, used poetry to teach conflict resolution, and painted poems on beehives. Her work appears in places such as Christian Science Monitor, J Journal, Literary Mama, The Shine Journal, Iodine Poetry Journal, and Pudding House. Connect with her at lauragraceweldon.com