O at the Edges

Musings on poetry, language, perception, numbers, food, and anything else that slips through the cracks.

Self-Portrait with Knife

Posted on January 10, 2015 by robert okaji

Self-Portrait with Knife

Lacking benefit of prayer or belief,
it slips through flesh,

praising its temerity. Or,
parting the onion’s core, reclaims
the right to weep.

How many nights have we shared
these pleasures? I smooth the blade

with steel, listening to the fine hum.

39 thoughts on “Self-Portrait with Knife”

Michael Simms on January 10, 2015 at 11:14 am said:

Reblogged this on Vox Populi.

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- robert okaji on January 10, 2015 at 11:21 am said:
  
  Thanks for reblogging, Michael.
  
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  - Michael Simms on January 10, 2015 at 1:07 pm said:
    
    Love your work, Robert!
    
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  - robert okaji on January 10, 2015 at 1:19 pm said:
    
    I’m humbled, Michael. Thank you.
    
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janeygingerboy on January 10, 2015 at 11:38 am said:

I love this…really love it : ))

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- robert okaji on January 10, 2015 at 11:40 am said:
  
  I’m so pleased it appeals to you. Thanks very much.
  
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john hauge on January 10, 2015 at 12:12 pm said:

a decent sharp knife makes cooking a pleasure. a really good sharp knife takes cooking into iron chef territory. : )

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- robert okaji on January 10, 2015 at 12:32 pm said:
  
  Oh, yes, sharp knives, proper tools, make all the difference. But they have their dangers, too – I sliced off a bit of my thumb, and a year later part of my index finger. I have since decided to remove speed from the cooking equation.
  
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maryleaamber on January 10, 2015 at 2:58 pm said:

This is great. Good work 🙂

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- robert okaji on January 10, 2015 at 3:33 pm said:
  
  Thank you!
  
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m.a. wood on January 10, 2015 at 3:06 pm said:

Reblogged this on HoneybeeWood and commented:
I see here reflections of my sentiments on onions and whetted knives

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- robert okaji on January 10, 2015 at 3:18 pm said:
  
  Thank you for reblogging!
  
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Ed on January 10, 2015 at 3:56 pm said:

Edgy

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- robert okaji on January 10, 2015 at 4:08 pm said:
  
  But not too sharp, I trust.
  
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St Brigid Press on January 10, 2015 at 9:15 pm said:

Fantastic.

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- robert okaji on January 10, 2015 at 9:28 pm said:
  
  Thanks, Emily. I do so love my knife despite our mishaps. Well, my mishaps. The knife is blameless.
  
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harmonioustew on January 11, 2015 at 4:43 am said:

Very nice! A slice of life. Once again, you prove that brevity is the soul of wit. Thanks also for liking my blog post.

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- robert okaji on January 11, 2015 at 7:46 am said:
  
  Ah, yes. Brevity cuts to the quick, so to speak. 🙂
  
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Sherrie de Valeria on January 11, 2015 at 6:39 am said:

It sounds very dangerous with the “fine hum” when it slice ….

Love the creativity of your writng. 🙂

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- robert okaji on January 11, 2015 at 7:45 am said:
  
  It’s that pesky steel! Thank you.
  
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Andreea Gutu on January 11, 2015 at 12:05 pm said:

“Lacking benefit of prayer or belief” indeed…it comes in handy, to grab a knife.
Wonderful poems, Robert! I love your work!

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- robert okaji on January 11, 2015 at 12:37 pm said:
  
  Thank you, Andreea. I appreciate your comments!
  
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Michael Duke on January 11, 2015 at 12:07 pm said:

Nice!

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- robert okaji on January 11, 2015 at 12:17 pm said:
  
  Thanks!
  
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johnnycrabcakes on January 11, 2015 at 6:13 pm said:

Great piece. (haha, pun intended) I know this all too well. Unfortunately, removing speed is not always an option for me.

You’d love what I did to myself last week, fifteen minutes before our brunch began…..stupid, stupid, stupid….you’d think I’d learn….no stitches….but a little super-glue came in handy…

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- robert okaji on January 12, 2015 at 5:26 am said:
  
  Ouch. And then there was that time I decided to clean a meat slicer with the blade running…
  
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  - johnnycrabcakes on January 13, 2015 at 1:20 am said:
    
    Ummmm……wow.
    I’m can’t decide if I find this scary or reassuring.
    
    I’m NOT the only one!
    
    No kidding. I have a nice little mini-knuckle where it nicked the bone of my middle finger.
    
    Fifteen years ago and the wife is *still* giving me a hard time about it. Sheesh.
    
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carlabillinghurst on January 12, 2015 at 2:07 pm said:

Lovely complex image of the knife and the onion and the emotions we reclaim through the action of cutting…brings to mind all the layers of how pain let’s us feel other things too. Gorgeous!

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- robert okaji on January 12, 2015 at 5:18 pm said:
  
  Thank you, Carla. I find a calmness in ritual – the act of moving the blade with a purpose, whether it be dicing onions or slicing tomatoes.
  
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Anjali on January 12, 2015 at 11:47 pm said:

‘…reclaiming pain..’ I really loved how you weaved in human emotions with the act of slicing. But my tendency is to see everything as a metaphor – so I have a question for you: Was this poem metaphorical for life, the cutting edge of a knife akin to the pain of life? Or is this me reading too much into it? 🙂 Either which ways, I loved it!

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- robert okaji on January 13, 2015 at 5:53 am said:
  
  Yes. No. Maybe. 🙂 While I seldom approach a poem with an underlying meaning in mind, my hope is of course to arrange the words in such a way as to offer the reader multiple choices.
  
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crumpledpapercranes on January 13, 2015 at 5:59 am said:

I weep for those onions. Well done!

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- robert okaji on January 13, 2015 at 6:12 am said:
  
  I weep over them! Thank you.
  
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willow1945 on January 13, 2015 at 8:58 pm said:

Love this, Robert! I can empathize with those cuts–I took off part of my thumb some months back–yeeouch! I haven’t been around in a while as I’m not feeling well, but hope to be more consistent soon.

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- robert okaji on January 14, 2015 at 6:14 am said:
  
  I hope you feel better soon! Am looking forward to reading more poetry on your blog. By the way, I’m attending a Jeffrey Levine workshop at the end of next month.
  
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jenhop on January 14, 2015 at 9:57 am said:

“reclaims the right to weep” This could be the theme of an entire memoir.

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- robert okaji on January 14, 2015 at 6:36 pm said:
  
  But whose would it be, the onion’s or the knife’s?
  
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Jean M. Cogdell on January 14, 2015 at 12:27 pm said:

Wow, wish I could write poetry like yours.

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- robert okaji on January 14, 2015 at 6:37 pm said:
  
  Thank you. It’s just one word followed by others. 🙂
  
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