The Traveling Onion

When you read "The Traveling Onion" one at first glance one may think that it is actually really about just an onion (because in the literal sense it talks about an onion), but when you start to read between the lines there is more going on than meets the eye. Nye comments:

And I would never scold the onion
for causing tears.
It is right that tears fall
for something small and forgotten.

It makes you want to know the story behind the story. What is it about the life of the person described, that has been forgotten. Everyday we pass people on campus or on the street not really knowing their story. They could all represent onions....you can assume how they are, where they come from, and what type of person you think they are, but it is not until sit down and get them to open up that you get the entire story. Nye also makes the statement:

How at meal, we sit to eat,
commenting on the texture of meat or herbal aroma
but never on the translucence of onion,
now limp, now divided,
or its traditionally honorable career:
For the sake of others,
disappear.

I could apply that story on a personal note to my own life - a few months ago I walked away from a career to pursue my call to ministry. At times I miss my job and my colleagues but for them the business day goes on. At one time I was integral part of their team and for a fleeting moment there was sadness because of my impending departure, but my contributions have become small and forgotten because I no longer hold that position. They would never know that it at times, in the beginning, it would hurt me to hear how business as usual progresses without me. Nonetheless this is the flow of life.