Eggs

I took six raw eggs to the lesbian

bar in San Francisco and drank

until I didn’t know how

to recognise a quarter

for the bus driver

until my lips

were numb

but the girl

with the teeth

had written on a napkin

directions for how to get back

to my bed and I followed them

she had been writing on a napkin

when I sat down beside her

we talked about Orlando and our fathers

and wondered whether trees’ offspring

remembered what our grandparents had done

to their parents

we wondered whether they winced

when we walked by

I told her I wasn’t gonna

spike her drink

when she covered it with a coaster

before she went to the bathroom

and she said no

that’s to let the barman know

not to take it away

I started writing on my own napkin

I took six raw eggs to the lesbian

bar

when she came back she said

that’s a great start

she told me it was 1:30am

I told her I had walked past the bar three times

before I worked up the courage to walk in

she asked me where I was staying

I told her my boyfriend wants to open up

our relationship

she said the BART doesn’t run this late

I said I have no idea how to get back

to the room where I'm staying

so she wrote

the directions on my napkin

at the bus stop

I was taller

than I expected and the insides

of my cheeks felt fat

I got off at Excelsia and peed

in someone’s yard and I wrote LOVE

on many frosted windscreens and found

Santa Rosa and did not do up my

belt

I found number 1743 with the glowing

doorbell

and the key

fit the lock

on the kitchen floor

I ate many small cold carrots

with my shoes on

I sent a message to my boyfriend

Do I need to sign the form

in front of a notary public

and I forgot to put a question

mark and then I

remembered

so I opened the zip

and the lid and the eggs

were all still

intact

I checked for a long time

they were bigger

than I expected

I moved them

somewhere good

somewhere they would not

get broken

Rata Gordon

Rata Gordon lives on Waiheke Island and coordinates a creative youth development programme. Her poems have found homes in a number of New Zealand literary journals. She enjoys dancing and tending to her peas. 

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