To Peel An Onion Poem by Liilia Talts Morrison

You cannot peel an onion
without a stream of tears
or fix a broken mirror
that you have loved for years

Nor can you outrun sorrow
when a dear friend is lost
no fervent wish or prayer
can bridge the span they crossed

Who can escape the bruising
from terror, dread and wars
or be unscathed, unbroken
devoid of battle scars?

And who on earth can brandish
a robe of righteousness
when feet of clay are muddy
hands stained with lawlessness?

Yet there is a hope more certain
than time and skies above
the road from hell to freedom
is paved with childlike love

You cannot peel an onion
without a stream of tears
or fix a broken mirror
that you have loved for years.