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It Takes Twelve (12) Onions to Make My Mom Cry

August 3, 2020/ Mercury-Marvin Sunderland

it takes twelve (12) onions to make my mom cry.

her mascara was running

and she wouldn’t stop saying dammit.

she cursed this twelfth onion

because it was her last one

and all the eleven before hadn’t made her cry

but this one waterfell.


she wouldn’t stop laughing

but boy she kept saying dammit.

she cursed the cutting board and the kitchen knife,

the lit match, the goggles, the fridge,

the cold water, the held breath,

the fan, the lemon juice,

the burnt match,

and all the other methods

that people say will keep onions from making tears

but don’t actually work.


her hands were

shaky

but she never cut herself.

so she laughed while crying and saying dammit 

and cursing this world.


i came upstairs

from the basement

and boy did we laugh.

i laughed at her

and with her,

her eyes were cascading

black streaks of what she’d carefully applied.


when my mother was growing up

my grandpa constantly shamed her for her makeup.

he said it was the sin of pride.

my mom grew up in a small town in oregon

and eastern washington

and she wasn’t allowed to go to school dances

because that was the sin of lust.


isn’t it funny how

femininity is shamed

even when it’s on women?

i find it funny

as a man very much in touch with his feminine side

just how much of men’s hatred of women

gets projected on me.


it takes twelve (12) onions to make my mom cry.

her mascara was running

and she wouldn’t stop saying dammit.

she cursed this twelfth onion

because it was her last one

and all the eleven before hadn’t made her cry

but this one waterfell.

Mercury-Marvin Sunderland is a Hellenist transgender autistic gay man from Seattle who uses he/him pronouns. He currently attends The Evergreen State College, and his dream is to become the most banned author in human history. He can be found as @Romangodmercury on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

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Friday Lunch Blog

Friday Lunch! A serving of contemporary essays published every Friday.

Today’s course:

Diagnosed at Sixty – My ADHD Journey

April 22, 2022/in Blog / Kait Leonard
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Why Video Game Preservation Matters

April 15, 2022/in Blog / Nicholas Galvez
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Sarees in America

April 1, 2022/in Blog / Majella Pinto
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Midnight Snack

A destination for all your late night obsessions.

Tonight’s bites:

QVC-land

May 6, 2022/in Midnight Snack / D. E. Hardy
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Escape Artists at the End of the World

April 29, 2022/in Midnight Snack / Lisa Levy
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The House in the Middle

April 15, 2022/in Midnight Snack / Megan Vasquez
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More coming soon!

School Lunch

An occasional Wednesday series dishing up today’s best youth writers.

Today’s slice:

I’ve Stayed in the Front Yard

May 12, 2021/in School Lunch, School Lunch 2021 / Brendan Nurczyk
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A Communal Announcement

April 28, 2021/in School Lunch, School Lunch 2021 / Isabella Dail
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Seventeen

April 14, 2021/in School Lunch, School Lunch 2021 / Abigail E. Calimaran
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Word From the Editor

Here at Lunch Ticket, 2021 represents ten years of our literary journal. 2021 marks the start of a new decade, one I can only hope will stand as tall and iconic in the history of our publication as the jazz age in America. What we’ve put together this fall is what I call and will fondly remember as our “Roaring 20th Issue”.

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