Popcorn: Life Itself

Popcorn. The product from a seed known as a kernel. This kernel comes in a variety of colors from blue to purple, and yellow to white; but no matter the color, the savory crunch and taste is known to all who’ve encountered it. When heated over a dancing flame, the crunch is reflected in the pop; the energy provided to the kernel transforms this smooth tear-shaped seed into a bulbous cloud that simply floats into your mouth. Like a caterpillar, the kernel goes through a metamorphosis, and whether in a bag or pot, one thing is surely known and most definitely expected and respected, the pop. It is the pop that forges the name from the flames from which it was created. The pop, which lets its presence known. It is a show that can be heard or seen, before all shows take place; Pop-p-p-pop-pop-pop-p-pop-POP-p-p! This noise can only resemble the plot of a perfectly balanced movie that brings forth a crescendo and provides a climax that is comparable to any Oscar worthy cinema. It is no wonder that this food of choice is the preferred snack amongst movie goers and binge watchers alike. However, like any good movie, the main character isn’t without a formidable supporting cast: Salt and butter.

Salt and butter. Two ingredients unlike the other, and two ingredients that have been a staple since the days tongues have taken on a conscious and imparted their wisdom on bearers. Bearers who insight war on behalf of spices and crop. They are but two ingredients that have strength on their own to power their own comics and odysseys, but when combined with popcorn, positions the soul in the middle of time and within the center of their body. A rather illustrious power that can be akin to life unknown. A warriors snack. A snack that the Aztecs have enjoyed while observing the stars, with salt from the earth, and butter made from the milk of a guinea pig. And it are these sidekicks; sidekicks that not only enhance taste, but also enhance the visual quality that glistens in the light which no dark can smother. For when the lights go off, a beacon is lit that welcomes one to taste the essence of magic itself.

But lo and behold, there have never been protagonists who have not had the luxury of living without an adversary; a villain that makes you nibble and pick at the roots of your very conscious. For the hero of this story has a shield, the very fabric of its being that will do everything in its power to protect its cause, its future in this vast world against beings like us. The shell of the kernel fights until the very end, burrowing itself between the lining of our flesh and bone, and hiding between bones aligned. The kernel will do whatever it can to delay us of the satisfaction of savoring its kin, future and present, from unjustly ends. Though just a shield, it does not know the meaning of reality and beyond; otherworldly dimensions that only popcorn and a few can show us, and allows to show us. It is a worthy sacrifice not in vain. So as you sit on the couch, with your loved one; with your family; and with your friends; know that many have come and gone between the pops, and they all knew it were these moments that were really cherished.