The eggshell is levitating
hovering above the drain
in my otherwise barren kitchen sink.
The water I’ve deployed thus far
proves no match for this formidable foe.
Stubborn, unrelenting
a slight tremor, a little shake
the eggshell mocks my efforts.
But the eggshell doesn’t know me.
Ha!
I will run water until I don\'t have to
until I’m no longer bound
by especial rules of engagement.
Ergo
until the eggshell bypasses the gasket
drops into the disposal
until it keeps company
with the slimy potato peels
and gritty coffee grounds.
There is doubt
more substantive than a shadow
that I will be successful.
I may be compelled
to tap the eggshell with fingers forbidden
or pluck it from the
otherwise barren kitchen sink
toss it into the garbage
raise my arms to the heavens
and say
You won.
Yes, there is doubt
serious, substantive
significant doubt.
It excites me, incites me
frightens me.
Y I do what I do, undoubtedly.
The tap is wide open
gallons of icy water slip within the cracks.
How reckless!
Mother Nature’s tears.
But this not a waste!
I am not so callous.
My battles are chosen
with prudence
fought honorably
with intent.
This battle is everything.
I am not aware the water is boiling.
The egg that I cracked
will soon spill over
spatter its rubbery white shrapnel
on the clean stove.
The fate of the eggshell
my fate
is all that matters.
If X then Y …
a logical concept
usurped by an obsessively
compulsively
illogical mind.
I am pondering this desperate
disperate
way of thinking
of living
when I sense the eggshell’s impending descent.
One more blast.
I aim my weapon
at this ruthless and worthy opponent,
the eggshell that which wishes me dead,
and I win.
Today.
This moment.
This eggshell.
E Pluribus Unum.