MY SPECKLED BROWN EGG

I'm remembering a beautiful thing I owned
at the tender age of three
a tiny elliptical egg with specks
fixed in a claw
within a branch of a rubber tree


wedged between twig and limb
burning threads woven into nest
of all the wonderful things I'd seen
I knew to love this best


day after day I'd glaze upon
this dusted stone of ivory
I'd slip away from all the rest
to love it secretly


a glimmer of jewel in crown of thorns
shimmering yellow and gold with amber
like specks that turn from yellow to gold
on a sun drenched day in September


from day to day I'd labor on
to love it with adulation
another Sun desolved to dusk
dark shroud to cloak frustration


swept up in wind into a swirl
finally I scooped it away
I thrusted it near and by my side
where it would neatly lay...


wrapped in a muslin cloth to care for
now I had possessed it
I stroked it gently, warm in hand
to love as I caressed it


I clasped it hard against my breast
and tight against my heart
then felt it crush beneath the load
crumbling as it fell apart


then I knew this lesson learnt
of love held jealously
could never ever be possessed
and only live when free


still faint as residue
that haunt and fade within the mind
upon a ghost of memories
to drift and sail through time...