The Egg
Although he could remember a time when the egg had not yet appeared
in the clearing, he could not recall any specific occasion on which
he had first noticed the blank, porcelain-like ovoid, taller
than a man, squatting placidly on the grass, nor had he ever
heard any passer-by (for this clearing was not at all isolated)
remark, "You know, in the days before the egg . . ." Indeed,
no one other than himself paid it the slightest notice, although
everyone was aware of the egg's existence: anyone to whom he
mentioned the egg would reply with a smile and a brief platitude
or small joke before changing the subject or hurrying on. Only an
occasional child seemed to think that the egg was something
special, staring at it long and long as if unsure whether it was
attractive or repulsive, until being hustled off by a parent.
Surely there was something wrong with him, that he alone inwardly
made so much of the egg, wanting to attack it futilely with a
hammer, or smash open his skull against it, desecrating
its white perfection with his bloody brains, or drench the
ground around it with his tears, or seize every person who
passed through the clearing by the collar and hold them against
the egg until one of them at last revealed why all men
but he had joined themselves in a conspiracy to deny the
egg's infinite significance. But he was as certain that everyone
would consider such behavior insane as he was that everyone
felt about the egg exactly as he did but refused to admit it. So
now he simply sits on the grass staring at the egg and
wondering whether sitting on the grass staring at the egg
is the answer, or whether perhaps wondering whether sitting on
the grass staring at the egg is the answer might be the answer.
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For the concrete poetry version (MS-Word file,) see:
http://www.geocities.com/joncpoetics/egg.doc
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Jon Corelis [log in to unmask]
http://www.geocities.com/joncpoetics
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