The Egg

I’d thought that they were extinct until

I found one in the coop,

A genuine Jersey Giant, strutting

Up on the henhouse roof,

Twice the size of the other hens

As I said to my sister, Faye,

‘Where did it come from?’ She replied,

‘Not there yesterday!’

 

‘I go to collect the eggs each day,

Do you think that could be missed?

That bird is a giant,’ she declared,

‘So don’t blame me, desist!’

I calmed her down, for she used to flare

At the slightest hint of crit.,

‘Whatever it is, it’s here to stay,

Perhaps we can breed from it?’

 

There wasn’t a cockerel near the size

Of this random Jersey Black,

‘It must have come visiting overnight,

I joked, ‘from a neighbour’s shack.’

She wandered into the henhouse and

From behind an empty keg,

She said, ‘You’d better come look at this,’

And showed me a giant egg.

 

An egg so big that you wouldn’t think

That a chicken could let it pass,

Tall and brown with a pointed crown

And a shell as thick as glass,

‘Are we going to let it hatch it out,’

Said Faye, ‘or crack it yet?

I wonder how many that would feed

As a giant omelette?’

 

‘We’ll leave her be, and we’ll wait and see

If a monster’s there inside,

We might as well, if a cockerel

It can be the henhouse pride.’

So we let her sit on the giant egg

For a week, or maybe more,

Then Faye came running inside one day,

‘You’ve not seen this before!’

 

The egg emitted a humming noise

And rocked a bit on its base,

While through the shell there were coloured lights

That would fade then grow apace,

And as we stood it began to crack

Then pieces would fall away,

It almost gave me a heart attack

For what I saw that day.

 

For spinning inside the egg we saw

A tiny universe,

With a sun-like star at the centre and

Our planets, in reverse,

And as we watched it began to grow

To float out the henhouse door,

Swelling constantly as it rose

To the skies, with a mighty roar.

 

I don’t know what it has done to us,

The sky doesn’t look the same,

There are three moons now in the evening sky

Since the Jersey rooster came,

I lopped the chicken that laid the egg

And I wait for the slightest sight,

With an axe for the Jersey cockerel

That Faye prays to at night.

 

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[Vishuddha]

So, of course, the egg came first because you can't have a chicken without a solar system to put it in. As for the rooster, can't be found. Just like a man. Never around when you need them. Of course, the chicken was already there because somebody had to sit on the egg. That's just common sense. So put that in your omelette and smoke it!

[R Smith]

from the hen house to the universe and back again, what came first the universe or the egg haha, delirious stuff David and you the Aussie Buck Rogers waiting in the coop with your galactic axe, its a fantastical journey through space to never, never land and great fun all the way, thank you :)

[Valentine]

Jersey Black huh! My mom used to raise chickens and show birds, but I do not remember any that size...and 3 moons now in the sky. Amazing. Where do these tales come from, is that big bird living near you now? He must give you story hints. Very lively and funny write. Kathie

[Valentine]

David, in case you didn't know, I was a child when mom raised those birds. Kathie

[ANTO]

"That bird is a giant,’ she declared,
‘So don’t blame me, desist!’
I calmed her down, for she used to flare
At the slightest hint of crit.," - well an outside berth then I hope David so you can make good your escape out a porthole.


"I lopped the chicken that laid the egg
And I wait for the slightest sight,
With an axe for the Jersey cockerel
That Faye prays to at night." - Laughing here David - prayings for the birds didnt you know - classic David - I couldnt resist dropping in for another hit of DLP.

Thanks for the much needed David