Ode To The Ever Changing Chickpea
Chickpea.
What once was
a little legume
a child of the earth
birthed from the ground
lying in green cocoon
safely
tucked away
from the dangers of the world
wholesome
round
untouched
has changed.
What was once kind on taste buds
sweet and innocent
giving life to those around you
expecting nothing in return
is now rude
after being exposed
to the complexities
of the industrial kitchen.
Your soul was
torn out of your body
by the blades of the blender,
your guts plastered against the walls
Your innocence robbed
by the paprika
punching you in the face,
The lemon juice
sprayed you in the eyes
but unlike pepper spray
the pain never subsided.
Your vision is permanently distorted.
Your faith in the kitchen was never restored.
And yet,
despite all of this
you are still beautiful.
The paprika gave you attitude,
so now you punch back
the lemons distorted your vision
but now you can see the world
with open eyes
no longer delusional
and protected in your cocoon,
and the blender shaped your rotund figure
and slimmed you down
into a smooth paste
so now you glide over tastebuds
as people stride through the streets,
never pausing,
never tripping,
like a true New Yorker.
Chickpea,
You left your legume cocoon to explore
the industrial world that is the kitchen
It beat you down changing you forever
It did to you
what New York does to people.
But, the question is,
did ingredients assault you,
or did they just make you more
aware of the world?
The Analysis
Similar to Elizabeth Acevedo With the Fire on High and Pablo Neruda’s “Ode to an Onion,” I used similes and metaphors in “Ode To The Ever Changing Chickpea” to convey the message that change, even if jurassic, isn’t always bad, forcing the reader to read the poem with more caution, developing ideas in areas that would otherwise seem insignificant. Throughout my poem, I use similes to elongate certain moments, allowing the reader to truly understand the change that has occurred to the chickpea. My second to last stanza addresses the change of the chickpea after being blended and how it now "glide(s) over tastebuds as people stride through the streets" (Paul li. 45-46). I used a simile here to create a picture of beauty and grace, causing the reader to reevaluate the previous lines on how the blender “torn (tore the soul of the chickpea) out of your (its) body” (Paul li. 22-23). It is this contrast that forces the reader to reach the conclusion that while the chickpea faces jurassic change it maintains beauty. Similar to the way I use similes to describe the journey of the chickpea, Neruda uses similes to describe the development of the onion and how it evolves into something greater. Neruda describes the growth of the of the onion from when it was a seed to when its" leaves were born like swords in the garden" (Neruda li. 14-15) By comparing leaves to swords in a garden Neruda is creating the vivid image of something unearthly being birthed from the ground as if it were celestial and greater than the earth itself. This can be tied to the overall idea that something incredible can be accessed by all in that it contributes to the heavenly attributes of the onion. In this case the onion has gone from a seed “under the earth” (Neruda li. 8) to something greater as my chickpea has gone from “a little legume” (li. 3) into flavorful hummus “slimmed down into a smooth paste” (li. 43-44). In With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo, metaphors are used for the same purpose of creating and contributing to that deeper meaning. In the book, Emoni constantly writes to her aunt, who is a major part of her life. At the end of every letter, she signs "Sending you lots of love and a bit of cinnamon dust" (Acevedo 301). In this passage, the cinnamon is a symbol of her love. Cinnamon is a spice that is frequently used as a garnish and as such, but we often overlook it. Emoni signs her letters with cinnamon because cinnamon is the little extra thing in her life that makes her that much happier, and that is what her aunt does for her. Similar to Acevedo I take something that would otherwise be overlooked and I accentuate it, giving it a deeper meaning. "Chickpea/ You left your legume/ cocoon to explore/ the industrial world that is the kitchen/ It beat you down, changing you forever." (Paul li. 50-54) In this passage, I draw out the chickpea to express the changes that the people around you or in this case the environment around you can have. The beaten down is a reference to not only the ingredients and the blender but also a reference to how change is typically associated with negative alterations. I follow this passage by asking as to whether or not change is really good or bad leaving the reader to reach a conclusion of their own. Throughout the poem I use similes and metaphors to create a stark contrast between the beginning and the end of the chickpeas journey. I use metaphors to force the reader to draw connections between the chickpea and everyday life and how while the process of changing can be brutal the end result doesn’t have to be.