© 2005 Bradley Thomas

EGGS

In a semi round bowl
White and chilled in the refrigerator
Ready to be created for a meal
Cranberry juice, butter, last night's escargot
Lemon juice and cold pressed virgin olive oil
All within easy reach
But they're not tempting enough to make breakfast
Too much whiskey last night?
Not enough success at work last week?
More weight gain this past month?
The stock that fell again with another Dow loss this quarter?
And no more friends came over to play music this year.
I shut the refrigerator door
And forgot about having breakfast
The hunger was deeper than my stomach
Before I eat I must tame my mind
To the vision I saw in the eggs
Smooth, oval, unpretentious splendor
Not barbed by desire
Just goodness protected by perfect simplicity

DIRECTIONS

It started with tasting your asparagus
Your potatoes and meat
It was like being in a cooking class
Grading the cooking and enjoying the sharing

But then like clinging grapevines
It grew to other things that didn't make sense
Casting down minute details of common things
I've done for you for years

The insufficiencies of others
When they came near you
Then the tantrums, the rebuttals
The insistences of it all being normal

But it wasn't
I remembered your past
The ingestion of horrific accidents
Fighting in the home. Your mother gave up on you

Father was never there.
Grandfather and stepfather packed up and left
Because no one remembered their commitment
To a young girl whose only fault
 
Was being there amongst them
I know I can change nothing about you
You are in the hands of the one who made you
But I must learn to let you be you

Until the impacts on you become perfections
Until past condemnations become your praises
Until those things of you rejected by others
Becomes the cornerstone of the new you

Love is not afraid to learn

SHE REMARKED TO ME

As the sun rose over the lake
I took the fishing rods and cooler out of the trunk
She took the tackle box
The air was cool and moist
Walking down the mountainside to the pier

She remarked to me about our last time there
We caught eight large mouth bass
Still exasperated about the ninth one that got away
She said "If you had gave me the right size hook I'd of had him!"

The lake is calm after last night's storm
The last of the clouds are leaving in haste
I tied a stronger hook to her line
Placed the sun chairs near the pier edge

And poured some homemade coffee for us
We settled into our position for the day
She cast her line out first
I sipped on my coffee enjoying the quiet business of the lake

I watched her when she suddenly got excited.  She's hit a big one. 
Her first catch of the day.  We get the bass into the cooler
I bait her back up and cast the line back out.
I sit back, she leans next to me

And I felt loved
In perfect time and moment
While hoping the fish
Would never bite.

All work is property of Bradley Thomas.

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