growing up in Manhattan
Phil subscribed to the philosophy
the smoother the hummus the better
but then
about five years ago
he tried chunky hummus in East Jerusalem
and loved it
turns out
the ticket to chunky hummus is simple
chop strong yellow onion coarsely
use a fork
not a blender
to mash the boiled garbanzo
when Phil collapsed yesterday in a grocery story
trying to find sweet onion
the kind his wife preferred in hummus
his dying words were
onion’s supposed to hurt
everybody’s hurting in Palestine