Egg-Shaped - Jan 22 2025

 

Egg-Shaped

Jan 22 2025

How to describe an egg

except to say egg-shaped?

If I was mathematically gifted

I suppose I’d devise an equation

of 3-dimensional space

to model it.

Was an artist,

then a clever trompe l’oeil

you could tell at a glance.

While a better wordsmith

might very well conjure an egg

in simile or metaphor

a pithy paragraph.

But I can do nothing more

than roll it in my hand,

feel its heft,

watch it spin lop-sidedly.

Or crack an egg

with a short sharp sound

and empty it.

Fragments of shell

tenaciously attached

to its jagged edge.

The gauzy membrane lining it,

thin as gossamer

and strong as spider silk.

The gelatinous white

which isn’t white at all,

sending sticky fingers out

until they stop.

And the cyclopean eye

of its boldly yellow yolk,

staring up at me

unblinkingly.

What shape is this, you wonder.

An egg, like any other

yet all its own.

If I have a criticism of the all-knowing Google, it’s just that: sometimes not having the answer is better. Because scientific words are not generally very poetical. And because questions can be far more interesting than answers: open-ended, as well as a spark to creativity.

Apparently, though, there are accepted terms: ovoid or ellipsoid. I also encountered oblate and prolate spheroid, although these two (rotated spheres that are respectively flattened or elongated) are too symmetrical for an egg.

The familiar shape of a chicken egg demonstrates the cleverness of natural selection: it doesn’t just confer strength (while using the least material, which minimizes the cost to the hen), but also helps stop the egg from rolling out of the nest.

Or so I thought. Apparently, I was wrong. After reading this article (below) I’ve reopened this post and added this paragraph and link. 

https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/06/why-are-bird-eggs-egg-shaped/531261/