Shrek: For your information, there’s a lot more to ogres than people think.
Donkey: Example?
Shrek: Example… uh… ogres are like onions!
[holds up an onion, which Donkey sniffs]
Donkey: They stink?
Shrek: Yes… No!
Donkey: Oh, they make you cry?
Shrek: No!
Donkey: Oh, you leave ’em out in the sun, they get all brown, start sproutin’ little white hairs…
Shrek: [peels an onion] NO! Layers. Onions have layers. Ogres have layers. Onions have layers. You get it? We both have layers.
[walks off]
Donkey: Oh, you both have LAYERS. Oh. You know, not everybody like onions. What about cake? Everybody loves cake!
Shrek: I don’t care what everyone else likes! Ogres are not like cakes.
Donkey: You know what ELSE everybody likes? Parfaits! Have you ever met a person, you say, “Let’s get some parfait,” they say, “Hell no, I don’t like no parfait”? Parfaits are delicious!
Shrek: NO! You dense, irritating, miniature beast of burden! Ogres are like onions! End of story! Bye-bye! See ya later.
Donkey: Parfait’s gotta be the most delicious thing on the whole damn planet!
When you ask me to explain,
I give myself to you wrapped, an onion–
speak each ringed, acid truth
until your eyes smart,
uncovering a series of stinging layers
that lead to no answer and more questions.
There is a center to what I say,
a core, small and quiet;
never directly addressed,
alive in the silence between words,
inferred, suggested,
never named precisely.
If I could tell
what unfolds under this skin,
what blooms and gives flight,
I wouldn’t bother with poetry–
just say it plain as denim,
simple as the dirt I pull words from.
Susan Daniels Poetry 