Egg [15 Words or Less]

Hello, poets, writers, noodlers–and welcome! This is 15 Words or Less Poems, a low-pressure way to wake up your poetry brain (guidelines here), and I’m very glad you’re here. 

Robin's Egg
Photo: Laura Purdie Salas

Thank you for keeping this community going while I’ve been on a semi-hiatus. Can’t believe how far behind I am, but your kind words and fun poems have been a lifeline this past month. I saw this discarded robin’s eggshell in our driveway last week. It seems like the right image for today, because my youngest daughter has returned overseas. And today is the one-year anniversary of my mom’s death. This fragile little shell feels especially poignant to me today. This image makes me think of several things:

  1. What if the earth is a shell for some as-yet unborn creature
  2. Treasures hidden close by that we don’t see (where was this nest?!)
  3. Rub-a-dub-dub, three men in a tub

And here’s my first draft. I had a 16th word–and it was painful to cut it!

robin eggshell 15wol poem

It’s your turn! Have fun and stick to 15 WORDS OR LESS! (Title doesn’t count toward word count.)

 

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29 Responses

  1. Oh, my.…that is a beautiful thought the weaving of empty and not and nest.
    I too saw an empty shell on the sidewalk this week.….gave me pause. Glad your daughter is home. Best gift to me ever is everyone home and happy. It’s the best.

    An Attempt

    Half-egg shell
    a silent bell
    story to tell.
    Begin with nest
    feathered breast
    end with rest
    Blessed.

    1. Linda, this is truly, truly lovely. I feel like you have here a poem that could, with just a tiny bit of expansion (no 15wol limit, in other words) be a still-brief poem that people would want to use in funeral programs, condolence cards, etc. It is so simple and yet such a comfort. I’m off to share it with a friend of mine who lost her son recently. THank you for this!

  2. Laura, sending warm thoughts your way. Mother and child, the umbilical cord may become “cracked,” but never severed. We had a pair of bluebirds in our yard with two nestings in their box. We watched the first hatchlings leave the nest. They prepared the box again but for some reason deserted the nest and four perfect little eggs. 🙁

    Life

    Fragile
    cracks along the way
    love provides the membrane
    for sustenance, day after day.

    1. Oh, this is so true, Martha! Life is both fragile and amazingly strong, just like eggs. So sad about the bluebirds:>(

    1. What a great word–crackly. I love how you get inside the chick’s head:>)

  3. Laura, cherish the sweet memories of your mom, and I hope you experienced a month of memories with your daughter when she was home. I hope now to give you a smile…

    WHAT EGGZACTLY HAPPENED?

    I fell.
    Something cracked.
    Wasn’t me,
    I’m intact.

    1. Thanks, Cindy–and yes to both thoughts–and the smile! Hehe–love the punny title, too.

  4. What a lovely batch of poems this morning.

    EGG TOSS

    Little creature,
    grown and gone.
    Thank you,
    pretty blue shell,
    you did a good job.

  5. Sending hugs to you, Laura–those anniversaries are rough. It’s more than 5 years since my mom died, and I still have the urge to pick up the phone and call her. Time seems to play tricks on us when it comes to those we’ve lost…

    Egg Song

    I’m trapped inside–
    gotta crick in my neck.
    My wings can’t flap
    so I’ll peck-peck-peck!

    1. I love the image of a chick who is tired of being all curled up–and the sound effect of the last line. Fun!

  6. too peace you back together
    would seam imposable
    letting you become yourself is the beauty
    and grate mystery of life

  7. Looked like the egg cracked the pavement. Must have been one heavy egg! Ooooh, I know who laid a heavy egg! Good thing one of her eggs never REALLY fell from the sky!

    The Giant’s Hen

    Egg of gold
    Over rolled
    Egg dropped
    Abrubtly stopped
    Gold egg intact
    Pavement cracked

  8. What great poems today!

    Jail Break

    From a safe harbor
    To a calcified jail
    Cracking the eggshell
    Expanded the tale

  9. Such a good collection this week! Here’s mine:

    Thin blue shell
    lies cracked and
    broken. The walls
    that nourished have
    grown too narrow.

  10. *the title is a word of the poem so it comes in at 15 words.*

    Stepping

    on sidewalk cracks
    trigger fault lines that
    splitting my heart in two –
    I miss you.

    © Charles Waters 2017 all rights reserved.

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