Hard Boiled

The red plastic casing has a jagged split

right across the button I hit to start.

I’m waiting for the water to boil a bit

before the egg falls completely apart.

The digital colon stopped its blink

at 0:00, a flat, frozen line of time.

I’m just leaning here over the sink

waiting for a chime that won't ever chime.

It’s quiet in the kitchen with the heat,

just the steam and the crack in the case.

A small, cheap piece of a total defeat

staring at me with that zeros-across face.