catching the light

until I turn pink and transparent
I will eat this lovely magenta vegetable
how could I resist such a flamboyant
pickled and extroverted root
that turns scarlet everything it touches?
but me, I am just a plain old turnip
someone pulled from the ground
trying to shake off this clumpy fortress of dirt
that clings on, leftover from some bygone era
and I've only just lately noticed that
I still haven't washed myself off,
that I am afraid to go near water,
afraid to let anyone see my purple striped skin
and so that is why I have been devouring so many beets
thinking maybe one morning without realizing it
I will walk by the sliding glass door
as the sun shines through me
and like pink stained glass you will see everything
inside me that I haven't been able to say
--by Gabrielle Mittelbach