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blue willow

i don't like eggs
but you knew this already
i know you're thinking
such a terrible waste
but it's not,
you see

i'm feeding them to the dog
she loves them
just as much as i know
she loved you
and the way you walked her
as if every single thing
she sniffed
mattered to you as well

sorry, dear
pardon my
red wine
opera crowd
violin string tugging
(your words)
i ramble at breakfast

like a fussy percolator
but you knew this already
morning is when
i am most honest
and vulnerable
i know that's why you left
after dinner

oh god dammit
you
i miss you so much
what i did before
us
is a mystery
and what i do now
is insanity

i'm frying up eggs
just to smell them again
and to perhaps coax you
down,
from wherever you are
for breakfast
did you know i believe
that there is still
a ghost of a chance

Rene Foran ~  April 2011

photo by Tess Kincaid for Magpie Tales click for more info
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Comments

  1. UnknownApril 19, 2011 at 5:37 PM

    I love this poem as much as I love eggs.. can't get much better than that!

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  2. Brian MillerApril 19, 2011 at 5:39 PM

    there just might be a chance...esp if you throw on some bacon...smiles

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    Replies
    1. Brian MillerSeptember 23, 2012 at 6:44 AM

      dolp, no bacon.

      smiles....the cooking of the eggs though just for the smell, i can feel that...smiles.

      happy sunday rene

      Delete
  3. UnknownApril 19, 2011 at 5:44 PM

    thanks, Anthony...

    and too late Brian, I already ate it :)

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  4. HelenApril 19, 2011 at 5:59 PM

    I had to smile ... once had an English Springer named Chloe who would inhale eggs if I let her. Fried, scrambled, poached, hard boiled.

    Save breakfast, it will happen.

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  5. hedgewitchApril 19, 2011 at 5:59 PM

    I have to say there is not much that is less appetizing than congealing egg yolk on a plate, but the poem rocked. The characters in this, even the dog, just jump off the page.

    (Well, not literally--that would be weird.)

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  6. MarianApril 19, 2011 at 6:18 PM

    i bow to your genius, rene. also, i hate eggs but am cooking some up right at this very moment. ick.

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  7. FireblossomApril 19, 2011 at 6:58 PM

    This whole thing is neat, but I like the middle section the best. The details in this are superb.

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  8. TimoteoApril 19, 2011 at 7:09 PM

    My GOD...you're eating Humpty Dumpty!!!

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  9. BrendanApril 19, 2011 at 7:16 PM

    They say relationships are made of a million minor details -- coming in so close to this changed ritual, with characters present and not central to the work -- the details grieve. - Brendan

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  10. Ann GrenierApril 19, 2011 at 8:24 PM

    Perhaps you are not describing an actual state of affairs Rene but I feel quite sad reading your poem. I imagine you are torturing yourself talking to a loved one who has died.In any case you have captured the emotion well.

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  11. UnknownApril 19, 2011 at 8:31 PM

    @Timoteo

    you know he was totally pushed right?

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  12. UnknownApril 19, 2011 at 8:35 PM

    aw, this is sad without being sappy. great :)

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  13. philApril 19, 2011 at 8:46 PM

    Wonderful.
    Life sure ain't over easy, is it?

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  14. ayalaApril 19, 2011 at 9:29 PM

    Nicely done... I love giving it o the dog :) I do that !

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  15. UnknownApril 19, 2011 at 9:30 PM

    GREAT picture!

    And such a tragic poem!!!!!

    Oh! My heart!!!

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  16. Alegria ImperialApril 19, 2011 at 9:48 PM

    This thing about breakfast and people's vulnerability...I'm in it, too, and your poem says it flawlessly. Only a poet who is comfortable with his craft could write THIS. Thanks!

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  17. Blue BunnyApril 19, 2011 at 10:26 PM

    Now, this is one excellent poem.

    You are a very good writer, and I was glad to take this poem trip with you.

    Hard to imagine someone interesting in everything a dog sniffs, but I guess it probably happens all the time. :) So little do I know.

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  18. Doris SturmApril 19, 2011 at 11:26 PM

    What a lovely poem, but it made me sad because my dog's getting old and I walk him like everything he sniffs matters to me too, because it does!...and he likes his egg yolks hard boiled ;-) and not the whites!

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  19. Lucy WestenraApril 20, 2011 at 2:33 AM

    Sad . . but really good.

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  20. jenny_oApril 20, 2011 at 4:02 AM

    Sad and sweet and captures the kinds of things people do and feel when they are wrenched from their loved one ...

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  21. Isabel DoyleApril 20, 2011 at 4:18 AM

    ancient dogs are so heart-breaking!
    great poem

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  22. UnknownApril 20, 2011 at 1:29 PM

    Oh! What we do in an attempt to conjure a loss. Brilliant write, Tess,

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  23. Tess KincaidApril 20, 2011 at 1:52 PM

    LOVE the fussy percolator. Really nice piece.

    (Kim's comment through me for a loop! teehee)

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  24. UnknownApril 20, 2011 at 4:34 PM

    @Tess... me too! though I am flattered.

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  25. signed...bkmApril 20, 2011 at 5:30 PM

    Excellent..how we twist who we are to feel the comfort of one or something...now standing as a ghost in our life....nice magpie...bkm

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  26. AnonymousApril 20, 2011 at 5:31 PM

    Sad...melancholy maybe a better word. Speaking of words...liked how you chose yours in this one. Really a good write. vb

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  27. Steve IsaakApril 20, 2011 at 6:31 PM

    Strong sense of uncertainty and perhaps panic to this. Excellent.

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  28. Mark KerstetterApril 20, 2011 at 7:01 PM

    The second stanza is especially cool. As someone who feels fragile first thing in the morning I can relate.

    "i ramble at breakfast
    like a fussy percolator"

    -that's a great simile.

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  29. ReflectionsApril 20, 2011 at 11:55 PM

    Wow... fabulous piece. The little nuances that grab into the open spaces of missing someone. Very nice!

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  30. Donna B.April 21, 2011 at 3:13 AM

    Oh the torture and the torment of "love"...

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  31. hyperCRYPTICalApril 21, 2011 at 5:40 AM

    Love this excellent sad poem! Bravo!

    Anna :o]

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  32. Kerry O'ConnorApril 21, 2011 at 10:59 AM

    I felt this, Rene, deep down, as anyone who has loved and lost must do.

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  33. Casey FreelandApril 21, 2011 at 11:53 PM

    Awe, Damn. :(

    Casey

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  34. Fred MillerApril 22, 2011 at 11:12 AM

    Humpty Dumpty is the expression of human frailty. Nobody can put us back together, but we still believe anyway. I love you.

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  35. TrellissimoApril 22, 2011 at 1:03 PM

    Sad poem, well constructed. (Great header picture)

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  36. The PoetApril 22, 2011 at 1:10 PM

    Longing for a lost love...very thought-provoking piece.

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  37. anonApril 22, 2011 at 4:17 PM

    Hey Lady! Quit poking at my memories.
    Nicely wriiten : )

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  38. J Cosmo NewberySeptember 23, 2012 at 1:28 AM

    Great story, great presentation. What else is there?

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  39. AnonymousSeptember 23, 2012 at 1:54 AM

    so love this poem...love
    "i miss you so much
    what i did before
    us
    is a mystery
    and what i do now
    is insanity"

    ReplyDelete
  40. ClaudiaSeptember 23, 2012 at 3:51 AM

    so many great touches here...love how he walked the dog as if the things she sniffed mattered to him as well..this is lovely...i understand that you want him back...so fry another egg and open the window...it may help..smiles

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  41. AnonymousSeptember 23, 2012 at 5:01 AM

    Coincidentally, I too am writing of toast and relationships ...

    Love the lines: '... i ramble at breakfast

    like a fussy percolator'

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  42. Sabio LantzSeptember 23, 2012 at 7:43 AM

    Are you calling to a Ghost with your eggs?

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    Replies
    1. UnknownSeptember 23, 2012 at 8:13 AM

      Exactly. The ghost of a loved one. He is missed.

      Delete
  43. AnonymousSeptember 23, 2012 at 9:33 AM

    This is just wonderful - first there is something about eggs here that has an odd intimacy - as a morning food, as an eye, as something almost kind of sexual/sensual - the sharing of breakfast certainly has that feel - and the shifting tone of the narrative - the plaintive quality - I really enjoyed this. Thanks. k.

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  44. AnonymousSeptember 23, 2012 at 3:10 PM

    There is so much flavor in this piece, Rene--angry, almost bitter lines in the opening stanza all the way through the loss and a sweet yet pointless hope. I'm so glad you pulled this one out again for Poetics--I'm reading it for the first time, but it was even better on the second and then third read through, so I hope your followers give it another look.

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