Egg Science

Dad showed us a trick:
spin two eggs,
one boiled, one raw,
then stop them, and
the boiled one will stop,
the raw keep spinning.
He showed us again,
every Easter, while Mom
tapped the boiled eggs
dozens of times on the counter,
peeling shells in splintered sheets,
chopping for egg salad,
whites here and there stained
blue or pink with dye that
leeched through invisible cracks.

Dad showed us a trick:
an egg standing upright
during a solar eclipse.
Mom smacked the eggs
on the edge of a hot pan
with one hand
cracked them, sizzling, fried
for breakfast,
and sometimes cried.

Kerry Trautman

from October, 2000 issue