Ode To The Onion by Pablo Neruda
Onion,
luminous flask,
your beauty formed
petal by petal,
crystal scales expanded you
and in the secrecy of the dark earth
your belly grew round with dew.
Under the earth
the miracle
happened
and when your clumsy
green stem appeared,
and your leaves were born
like swords
in the garden,
the earth heaped up her power
showing your naked transparency,
and as the remote sea
in lifting the breasts of Aphrodite
duplicating the magnolia,
so did the earth
make you,
onion
clear as a planet
and destined
to shine,
constant constellation,
round rose of water,
upon
the table
of the poor.
You make us cry without hurting us.
I have praised everything that exists,
but to me, onion, you are
more beautiful than a bird
of dazzling feathers,
heavenly globe, platinum goblet,
unmoving dance
of the snowy anemone
and the fragrance of the earth lives
in your crystalline nature.
Oh my how I love this poem! A poem of beauty in the mundane….
The word prompt for day three of CBC was multilayered. Although I certainly wasn’t creative with my choice of onions, I wanted to try to photograph a still life in a more formal manner than I have before. I had a lot of fun gathering as many types of onions as I could find in the market…I forgot the leeks…And I had fun trying to set up the black background I envisioned… I used an old black velvet shirt…I then went all around the house looking for the right light…
I did take a lot of pictures…and it was fun…
Now I need to look up some onions dishes…maybe onion soup?
19 comments:
Where do I begin? I love Neruda. I love this poem. I love (and collect) brown transferware. Most of all, I love your photos. That first one took my breath away. They are treasures, my friend, as are you. xoxo Gigi
I agree with Gigi, I don't know where to start either. The top still life is brilliant, the perspective just right. I have tried creating still lifes before, and I have never quite got the lighting right, so brava!
The poem is tremendous. I have read many of Neruda's odes, but I missed this one. The swords in the garden! The breasts of Aphrodite! Table of the poor, and making us cry without hurting us, etc., etc. This is a transcendent poem. He always makes me fall in love.
Thank you for the inspiration this morning, which I'll carry with me all weekend.
Hmm, what to cook with onions. Have you ever made Chicken adobo? Here is one recipe:
http://www.whats4eats.com/poultry/adobong-manok-recipe
It's a Filipino dish with chicken, vinegar, and onions. I LOVE it.
Still lifes are much harder than one might expect. I think you've done well AND you have food when you are done!
Love the smell of sautéed onions.
Oh--these photos are lovely. Almost made me cry, though. ;)
Oh, this is wonderful... the Neruda and your super still life. Wow. I love the brown transferware dish. Fun to take a behind the scenes peek!
Just love Neruda...*sigh*... The "ordinary" is always extraordinary, I think! Such an elegant onion still life... this is beautiful! I made good onion pizza--red onion sauteed in butter and red wine vinegar or balsamic, feta cheese crumbles, thyme...mmm... Let us know what you make! :o) Oh, I'm celebrating my blogiversary this weekend at my arts & crafts blog with a little gift giveaway--stop by if you can. ((HUGS))
LOL i thought you had this beautiful set up and there you showed me jsut how easy it is.
i loved seeing the behind the scenes set up...onions do not agree with me but they photograph so well...have a marvelous weekend!!
Beautiful.
Still.
Life.
Like the black background for the still life ... beautiful images.
Celebrating the mundane is extremely beautiful when done by the talented Oliag who gets her inspiration from that lovely, multi-layerd poem.
I love the lead picture, but really my favorite is your catch-as-catch-can setup photo. It tells a story.
I am days behind on CBC. I just finished day 4. I love your interpretation of multi-layered. And the poem? Fabulous.
Caramelized onions are a favourite in our house ... check out Mark Bittman's recipe. It's a bit of work but worth it.
Great idea well executed! Hooray!
This post is perfection. Perfection! I love Pablo Neruda, first. And I love your main image. Love it. And then you keep on delighting with behind the scenes peaks. This was a terrific post, my friend.
these are so great! roast your onions with balsamic vinegar. seriously yum!
Joining the chorus to say this is a brilliant post. Your photographic still-life could be an old Dutch painting, it is perfect. And I love the Neruda--just borrowed his complete poems from the library, in fact. Synchronicity?
Well done, Oliag!!
food and neruda~ perfection.
and these photos are brilliant.
onion soup, onions au gratin... all so yummy.
xo
Multilayered indeed! It was fun to see the process. The onions made a wonderful still life. I think my favorite view is the overhead shot.
I've been interested in the poems of Pablo Neruda ever since I watched the Italian film "Il Postino."
I love your first photo. It's very formal and painterly.
Who knew someone could find so much to say about the onion!
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