Post by Surprised Eel Historian, PhD / Redsky

Surprised Eel Historian, PhD • Feed

A poem for this morning, about my boys.

Two Eggs My boys like eggs for breakfast. So every morning, in the cheerless light of not-quite-day, I crack two eggs into a bowl and whisk them with a fork until the whites and yolks have all become a mottled yellow soup that I can use to cook the little omelets that they love. There can be such a difference in the shells. Some eggs have shells of rock, craggy-coated things that fight against the breaking. My normal rappings only leave them dented, crazed but whole, and I must hammer them into the lip before they shatter. Some are paper-thin, and feel as if they might give way before the lightest touch. Like sunlit wings of some too-fragile moth, they almost tear instead of crack. It is an easy thing to make them weep their heart into the world. They look alike, the hard shells and the soft, and it is only in the testing that you know. My boys like eggs. So every morning, in the rising light, I make them little omelets and we break our fast with slow and quiet talk about their lives. It does not last. The clock slips by us while we sit and all-too soon it’s time for coats and socks and teeth and hurry; “Did you remember that permission form?” until they’re gone into the hustle of the world, leaving me behind to hope that I have done enough, and that, at least today, their shells are strong. -- John Wyatt Greenlee

aug 28, 2025, 2:46 pm • 125 30

Replies

Perfect reminiscence of parenthood!

aug 28, 2025, 4:40 pm • 2 0 • view

📌

aug 28, 2025, 2:59 pm • 1 0 • view

My friend loved the poem

aug 28, 2025, 3:02 pm • 1 0 • view

Thank you! I'm glad

aug 28, 2025, 5:47 pm • 0 0 • view

"It is an easy thing to make them weep their heart into the world." Oh. This is wonderful! 💛

aug 28, 2025, 3:17 pm • 6 0 • view

Thank you!

aug 28, 2025, 3:24 pm • 2 0 • view

His eyes wet. "I could not love enough. / You deserve better. / So we nod over coffee and say goodbye, / Do whatever has to be done again today; / Out into traffic and time will fly, / Look at the sun and pray for rain." -- Mark Heard, "Nod Over Coffee."

aug 28, 2025, 4:04 pm • 3 0 • view