Cracking an Egg

What makes it
that perfect egg,
laying there, simply
narrow-turned nose
to broad-bend
bottom
?

What is it
about
this teardrop of smooth,
its quickening
shell not easily cracked
or taken
to a coating dye —
the slippery
dips in mocking pink,
acid-tongued blue,
and indigestible
pea green
?

I can't begin
to unlock that knowing,
and I'm not going
to swallow it
hardboiled
.

---

We're 10 days in and a third of the way home to the NaPoWriMo finish. Today's ReadWritePoem prompt is to celebrate. My most recent family-based celebration was a lovely Easter brunch at my sister's home. There's a peculiar little ritual we've practiced since we were kids, which involves a competition to see whose egg has the thickest shell. We tap them nose-to-nose and bottom-to-bottom until one emerges uncracked. After a champion is crowned, both losers and winners should be consumed with equal relish, but I've never liked hardboiled eggs. The tradition has been passed on to my nephews, so the cracking will continue at least one more generation.