Best Eggshells Poems
From a mouthful of this morning’s eggs,
I pull bits of char from yesterday’s breakfast.
‘I had no chance to scrub the pan’, I plea with myself-
But I still smash it over my skull
like a cartoon.
Every morning I wake up
feeling last night’s feelings,
thinking last night’s thoughts,
about what’s happening 10 years ago,
and what happened tomorrow.
If you add up every
simultaneous
suffocating
moment
I fight through-
just to say:
‘i love you’
It would stretch for longer than I’ve known you,
which is longer than I’ve been alive.
There was no ‘today’ in my broken egg.
No difference between coming or going,
to an automaton in purgatory
who saw life through the pinhole eyes
of a cardboard mask won at a birthday party
I never asked for.
The sky looked like the ceiling of a small, dark closet.
and flowers looked like plastic bargain bin decor
coated in lead paint, the kind left on roadside graves.
I used to count those as a child,
on the way to destinations
I still dread my arrival to.
If I were brave enough to show you my awe and my terror
of loving the one who revealed
the world as something real, all this time-
I would sink face down in dirty bathwater
choking on wet, laughing sobs
until my fingerprints wrinkled away
and tear at my clammy skin
until my soft nails bent backward
and paint red bruises all over my trembling body
that would spell out a primitive language
neither of us had the chance to learn.
This is my best guess:
‘i am just a bad thing that happened
a book of false memories and blind feelings.
You are a very fast reader,
You’ll soon reach the end of me.’
I remember drawing a map in crayon
of every ditch I saw myself lying in
strange, unnatural positions.
Like I'd been struck by a car,
and someone shoved my body away
so I wouldn’t mess up the next one.
Dancing on eggshells
Pursuing my groove
Correcting my posture
In hopes to improve
My tip toes are bare
In our home built of glass
I take each, ginger step
With fear induced class
I strive for perfection
I land below par
My rhythm needs work
Steps, too far apart
I try to refrain
And not tap my feet
I tame my excitement
I tune out the beat
I relax at a victory
My pivot, just right
But before I can bow
My dip is too tight
In the second of calm
I lose my composure
I begin to feel safe
My moves are all over
Your look of dismay
A familiar jab
I’ll continue to try
Even though I am bad
The egg came before the chicken but some fool sat on it...
You say you will, but then you won’t
Say you do and then you don’t
I’m running around in circles all the time
You tell me that you’re feeling low
Saying maybe I should go
Then the next minute you’re saying
You feel fine
It’s a catch twenty-two
Whenever I’m with you
I’m damned if I don’t
And damned if I do
I’m walking on eggshells
When I am with you
I can’t do right for doing wrong
You make the days so very long
It’s like I’m constantly trying
To swim against the tide
First a happy, then sad face
A simple word said out of place
Then suddenly it is 'pity poor me' time
It’s a catch twenty-two
Whenever I’m with you
I’m damned if I don’t
And damned if I do
I’m walking on eggshells
When I am with you
It doesn’t matter what I say or do
I’m always walking on eggshells
When I am with you.
Mom woke up early to bake the pie. The special occasion pie. Her daughter’s favorite. She rolled out the chilled dough with the old rolling pin and crimped the edges just so. She danced with anticipation as the custard bubbled to its chocolatey glory. When all was done, there were eggshells everywhere. She tidied the kitchen humming their favorite tune.
At last the doorbell rings and there is the delightful smile of her beautiful girl! Though a bit awkward they hug and chat pleasantly. But before Mom can present her scrumptious offering, something from the bitter forbidden list almost slips from Mother's lips. Almost, but her daughter’s keen ear hears it. Almost is enough. Enough to trigger her daughter’s rehearsed response--leaving Mom stunned and alone with her disappointed expectations.
behind the slammed door
the said, unsaid, and dust swirl
untouched meringue weeps
3/8/2021
Will she be in a good mood or will it be bad?
Will she be overjoyed today, or will she be sad?
This yo-yo effect has me in such turmoil,
Never knowing if I can be myself or if its time to recoil.
Sinking into an ever growing black abyss,
Its the upbeat, smiling, wise ass that I really miss.
Take a pill to make you relax and be stress free,
Take another one for Bi-polar and you're a zombie.
I know life sucks right now, with stress at an all time high.
It doesn't help that someone left holes in you and now you don't even try.
Haven't we been through enough the last three or four years?
Do you really have to be so depressed and add to my fears?
I miss my friend, who smiled more, laughed and always had a joke.
Its sad to see a crumpled, lifeless, hollow shell who is broke.
What can I do to get you out of this deep, dark cave?
If we don't get you some help, I fear its an early grave.
I'd gladly take back the girl who makes me laugh so hard I pee,
Being so silly that tears run down my face and I can't breathe.
I miss you, come back and don't be sad, moody and terribly glum.
What will it take, sexy men, kids, Marilyn Manson or a bottle of rum?
I know you think I'm mean and I just get irritated to complain.
But that's not the case, to see you miserable causes me great pain.
Just tell how to make it better, tell me how to make it go away please!
I want my friend back, I'm begging and pleading, I'm on my knees!
Its been an adventure, tell me bout it...
Its been a crazy ride, dont wanna think about it...
Walkin on eggshells,
Wondering "what the hell?"
Trying to get to know you,
I'm not sure what to do.
Lost and outta place,
Unfamiliar territory.
Would you give me a break,
You've done this more than me.
Im so tired of feelin outta place,
I feel like I'm from a different galaxy.
I'm spinin in circles and circles,
and we fight like an old married couple.
Walkin on eggshells,
Wondering "what the hell?"
Trying to get to know you,
I'm not sure what to do.
Lost and outta place,
Unfamiliar territory.
Would you give me a break,
You've done this more than me.
Its been an adventure, tell me bout it...
Its been a crazy ride, dont wanna think about it... sometimes.
My feet crush the eggshells
Scattered all over the floor,
A mistake I always seem to make
As soon as I come in the door.
Panic rises in my chest
As I hear the screaming begin,
Here she comes ready to fight
I don’t want to do this again.
I stand there and watch her
Become someone else,
The mom I know is nowhere to be found
And I don’t know how to help.
I danced on eggshells year after year
‘Til all that remained was sand
Still you wonder how we ever got here.
Paths strewn with landmines, shrapnel and fear
You won't hold me or reach for my hand
I danced on eggshells year after year
Emotional cruise control set in fifth gear
So sure of your map of the land
Still you wonder how we ever got here
“You don’t really feel, think or be that way, dear”
My smolder threatened flames when you fanned
I danced on eggshells year after year.
Protestations of reverence belied by your sneer
While insisting that all was just grand
Still you wonder how we ever got here.
For too long preachy voices were all I could hear
Divorce seals your fate as one damned
But my soul starved of love groaned and sighed my mind clear
I danced on eggshells year after year
Still you wonder how we ever got here.
Walking on eggshells,
with left-over scratches,
Brave little chick
into the world hatches...
managed to scramble away with a limp--
those eggshells, (and mama)
did a number on Shrimp.
Fifty years after, mama's still kicking,
pecking Shrimp's feathers off,
when no one's looking--
Some of her feathers are plucked to the bone-
her skin is bleeding,
she feels so alone.
Mama, she swore that ol'
Shrimp was an odd one,
just a non-Certifiable, sad
Family Problem.
Why, Shrimp was a Horrible, terrible Liar,
such a Bad chicken,
(and an awful flyer!)
But despite the hate,
Shrimp flew higher!
"We can't have that!!"
shrieked the old chicken, cackling
"Let's give her some
Chicken scratch,
and send this one packing!"
Shrimp walked away sad,
but then she got better,
She knows she's not bad,
(despite the mean letter.)
Yes, despite the hate,
Shrimp grew bigger!
"We can't have that!!"
squawked the old chicken Liver,
"I'll give Shrimp her
Chicken scratch,
and give her the boot!"
but Shrimp's feathers shine brighter,
now that she's flown the coop.
You deserve connections that don't require you to walk on fragile eggshells to reveal your heart,
where words flow freely like a mountain river, carrying truth and simplicity within them,
without needing to bend your soul into unfamiliar shapes just to protect egos,
and your inner peace to be an inviolable sanctuary, a place where your true self breathes freely.
You deserve connections where peace isn't sacrificed on the altar of unspoken expectations,
where dialogue is a dance of sincerity and mutual respect, without masks.
In this universe of open souls, you are a blossoming tree on the plain of freedom,
with roots deeply anchored in the soil of self-assurance, growing towards clear skies.
You deserve connections that don't ask you to distance yourself from your essence, to break from your core,
but which embrace you as you are, a mosaic of dreams, thoughts, and pure emotions,
where each encounter is a celebration of authenticity and self-discovery,
a place where souls meet in dances of light and shadows, sincere and free.
In this world of true connections, you are an explorer of the heart's depths,
traveling on oceans of understanding and compassion, not losing yourself, but rediscovering.
You deserve connections that fulfill you, that reflect you like a clear and pristine mirror,
where each conversation is a bridge of light between hearts, without distances or walls.
Between these verses flows a river of secret desires, a song of the liberated soul,
and in this uninterrupted flow of thoughts and emotions, you rediscover yourself, you find yourself anew.
Until recently I've lived my life with eggshells under my feet
A specter in my mirror latched onto my shoulder
Weighing me down so that i cannot fly
My wings are broken, tethered to my spine
But I slowly shake off the shackles of sin
The weight of normality sucks me into a whirlpool of repetition,
Easing me into the lifestyle I used to know
It’s so draining to become a slave to your habits.
So i say this with all of the truth in my being,
Live every moment as if it’s your last,
Tell the person who holds your heart that you love them,
I know you want to.
Be reckless and spontaneous and wholeheartedly you
And live your life walking on clouds instead of eggshells.
out from which place that we pretend our greatest courage lies &
those fears that eat at us quietly subside,
whilst we are constantly being watched by others,
constantly undergoing the profoundly wretched
curiosity
spawned from an overstimulated world &
an understimulated amount of psyches roaming the streets
looking for a new carcass to feast on---
as they step on eggshells
cracking the fragile worlds we have built up for ourselves
(a mutual stepping on one another, as mutual as the panopticonic
manner by which we self-police one another & sigh gratefully to the
state that it wasn’t us who got caught for our dirty little ways, that it
wasn’t us who got thrown away today into society’s garbage can &
let the key echo down the mine shaft in the dark---as if we’d ever see it
again),
we crush & melt like snowflakes hitting the
warm
gumstuck, oilstained,
piss covered, beer ridden,
pigeon *****on, rat crap &
blood laden streets,
making our way into the silence
like we each had our own paparazzi
assigned to destroy us by the rest of us
because once you buy into it
you’ve sold out yourself &
there’s no turning back from
watching another burn &
being glad it wasn’t you.
for some reason
around your fortress
you’ve built
insurmountable blockades
and from their safety
you thrive on lashing out
catapulting showers
of fireballs
and cannonballs
it took a while for me
to realize we were at war
I simply didn’t know
in hindsight it’s been going on for years
but I really truly didn’t know
I knew enough to keep my distance
and stay out of the firing range
you’ve always had me
walking on eggshells
why? I haven’t got a clue
after all these years
to tell the truth
somewhere along the way
I simply finally lost interest
so keep doing what you’ve got to do
and I’ll continue
liking you the way you are
the last of eggshell crumbs
have turned to lovely sand
and your fireballs
now look to me
like nothing less
than fireworks display
AP: Honorable Mention 2022, Honorable Mention 2021
Submitted on June 16, 2021 for contest ALL YOURS (JUN 17) sponsored by BRIAN STRAND - 1ST PLACE
Tip toeing on eggshells with a shut lip.
Crack, I heard. At my back I got a smack.
By daft accident I step on one. Why?
For spitefulness, I screamed and slammed the door.
10/4/2022
just for funny I live alone :)