First, remove the onions’ crisp jackets

then wipe away tears as your knife creates all manner of rectangles.

Watch the butter paint the pan before you overwhelm it with onions.

Hear the sizzle, smell the comfort, as the onions begin to soften,

as if they have just encountered magnificent kindness.

While the onions swoon, attend to the garlic,

prying nestled cloves from their snug families,

then cracking away their stiff clothing.

Crush and press their tenderness into pungent snow,

piling in the pot’s center, startling the onions.

Next come the green chilies, completing the holy trinity,

releasing the scent of all that is right in the world.

Create confetti as your spoon flips and flops,

then fetch the stockpot of kernels  whose hearts

have finally cracked open under the broth’s loving caress.

Add the hominy to the vegetables and baptize with more broth.

Meanwhile, remove hissing tomatoes from the oven,

then blend the bursting bodies and flame-stained skins

into a silky, steaming puddle of hope.

Allow the red liquid to flow into the pot,

add crushed chilies, vinegar, brown sugar, salt,

and stir, stir, stir,

until you taste the alchemy of a few simple ingredients

nurtured into the miracle of hot stew on a cold night.