Sharing with The Sunday Muse for Sunday Muse #164. Come join the revelry!
It isn't the chicken or the egg. It is the egg cup,
First among many things lingering in the cabinet
That will need bubble-wrap;
Because it has a story and we met the potter
Who threw it a festival when we were still
Adding to the kitchen.
The egg-cup is the first of these dishes that I,
Standing by the island and crumpling paper,
Want to make sure is boxed.
-- Chrissa
Objects can indeed have all kinds of meaning for us relating to their context, as if they were alive, our friends and connections, or enemies and curses, burdens of responsibility or bright memories that share our days--any power of life with which we imbue them, as you do so cleanly in this poem. Evocative and full of delicate nuance.
ReplyDelete"It isn't the chicken or the egg. It is the egg cup," - fabulous. Perfect opening line. And the rest takes us to that moment of needing to decide what goes with us and what to discard in our lives. A reckoning with what is important, what stories we need to keep. Love this.
ReplyDeleteAnd how could the anonymous potter have known his creation was destined to be bubble-wrapped in memories of that festival afternoon. We are all gossamer threads intersecting serendipitously.
ReplyDeleteOh yes. How many things do I have like this, that no one would know what they mean to me, or why?
ReplyDeleteThat first line is like a fishing lure and you drew me in my friend! I can relate to how things we have hold stories and we cannot let them go. This is lovely Chrissa!
ReplyDeleteThis poem had me time traveling ... all the moves cross country, seven states....the precious artifacts that simply could not have been destroyed. A beautiful write, Chrissa! See you Wednesday.
ReplyDeleteTreasures are precious, and irreplaceable in their essence — really liked this Chrissa! ⭐️đŸ™‚
ReplyDeleteGot to save that egg cup!! I think we have one some place
ReplyDeletebut I haven't seen it since we moved six years ago.
..
I like your personalization of the image to your life, Chrissa.
ReplyDeleteI too like how you took the image to your life. We can have a house full of whatever, but in a cabinet there is one thing that must be protected because we can't imagine grieving its loss.
ReplyDeleteLove the idea of an egg cup, Chrissa! Very popular before when 2 half-boiled was a regular breakfast treat. Fear of high cholesterol made it less seen. Now cholesterol is found to be less threatening it might make a come-back.
ReplyDeleteHank
Such warmth and nostalgia in this poem. Made my day, Chrissa :)
ReplyDelete