Oh I did mean gray! <br />That’s what I meant to say. <br />Because for many years on the Saturday <br />Preceding Easter Sunday we used to play <br />at coloring hardboiled eggs to display next day <br /> <br />There were seven of us there <br />Five handsome boys two girls with long hair <br />We selected each egg handling it with care <br />Then marked them with wax so to prepare <br />For dipping into the color dyes gathered there <br /> <br />We all had favorites, (mine was blue) <br />Some liked red, green or yellow hue <br />We often mixed them for effect too <br />But none quite the way brother Tom would do <br /> <br />Tom always tried to make a unique one <br />Often he kept at it after his siblings were done <br />(We having moved on looking for other fun) <br />Tom kept working as though there were a prize to be won <br /> <br />While the rest of us had colored quite a few <br />Tom seemed to think that just one egg would do <br />If he could only master the dyes before he was through <br />He was certain he could invent his own unique hue <br /> <br />Yet, no matter how long he worked away <br />The result was always the same at the end of day <br />That Easter egg invariably ended up colored gray! <br /> <br />On Easter Sunday we woke to see <br />Our eggs displayed in a bowl so carefully <br />Mom and Dad always laughed with glee <br />Because there on the top of the heap would be <br />The glorious gray egg contributed by Tommy <br /> <br />So though the Seuss family we were not <br />We sure had fun and we laughed a lot <br />Gray eggs and ham is what we always got! <br /> <br /> <br />Reader’s note: Most sadly my brother Tom passed away March 2006. He was the fourth child in our set of seven and occupied that center spot in our hearts and so many other ways. Tommy we miss you, love you, and remember you always.<br /><br />Mary Havran<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/gray-eggs-and-ham-br-in-memory-of-tommy/
