Joyce Miriam Friedman

Warm Eggs

Frizzle wears a red nose and bright yellow patent leather shoes.
She asks 12 year old Matt what he loves best in school.
Science? Can you teach me something you know?
Well, said Matt, from his hospital bed.
“Elephants lay eggs.”
Wow, I said, I thought so.
Big eggs, I bet.
“Huge, said Matt, and purple.
These elephants live in the Arctic Circle.”
Let’s go, I said.

I bring a bus in from the hallway,
Big enough for some huge eggs and an elephant maybe.
Matt is the driver.
We rev up the engine.
He takes us twisting and turning up and down the land.
Finally, we reach the Arctic.

Phew, I say, grateful to be safe.
Great ride, Matt. Thanks.
We can’t believe our eyes.
Several huge elephants with their eggs before us.
Elephants on the snow with their
Glittering purple eggs.
What a sight.

Matt decides we can take the eggs home on the bus.
Disturbed by separating eggs from their mama,
He decides to take the elephant as well.
“Her name is Omelette”, he says.

Back in the room, it is crowded.
Watch out for the IV pole!, I yell to the elephant.
Don’t block the bathroom door!

Frizzle calls out to tell the nurses in the hall
That there is an elephant in room 426.
Be careful.
Matt is wondering who will clean up the poop.

 

That night I have a dream.
I am given the task of carrying four enormous eggs
From one incubation place to the next.
Elephant eggs?
They are warm and heavy..
I try to carry two at a time but drop one.
The egg is cracked but not damaged.
I look behind me and there are people who can help me
Carry these eggs.
I feel them warm and heavy in my arms.
There are ancient Mayan symbols on each egg but
I cannot interpret the signs.

I understand something.
This is all that I know.
It is simply my job to carry these eggs to a new location.
They existed long before I was born.
I will put them in the nest to
Incubate in the dirt nearby.

What has been given to me was laid long ago.
I must carefully hold all the potential           
That lies in these eggs
And carry the new life and healing they contain.

Like elephants, slow and steady,
One day they will reveal the mystery.