how to open a pomegranate it wasn't always messy. you just needed to be careful. to follow the white lines, to open it slowly, to know that beneath the skin were hundreds of little pieces holding themselves together. but you were impatient. you tore through the skin and watched the red spill across your hands. you called it messy. you never noticed how carefully everything had been held together before you touched it. some pomegranates bruise long before they split open. and somehow, you still blamed the red for staining your hands. when really, it was only everything that had been hidden beneath the surface. you could have been gentle. you could have taken your time. but by the time you learned how to open it without breaking it, there was nothing left but seeds on the table and red on your hands.