Old-Fashioned Easter Eggs

No Plastic Eggs!

On a day that was sunny,

During an old-fashioned Easter Egg hunt in the backyard,

As a child, finding those eggs could be mighty hard,

Of course, we counted them all first to know how many we had,

Then someone was designated to hide them:  a mom or a dad,

While we seekers would all wait patiently in the front,

We wondered:  Would there be a prize at the end of the hunt?

Candy inside? Oh no, these eggs were hard-boiled and hand-dyed,

Each one was unique, and we had made them with pride,

We did them ourselves with smelly vinegar, hot water and tablets of bright,

Swirling them around with a small wire loop until they were just right,

Each teacup a different colored solution with a wax crayon for creating design,

Everyone knew which ones were theirs and I knew all of mine,

No one was allowed to look while the hider meticulously hid all the eggs,

Beware the spiderwebs, barbed-wire fences and daddy long-legs,

As the hider completed the task and yelled out “go!”,

Clumps of overgrown grass were a favorite first look, although,

The gutter downspouts were also a sure spot,

And the swing set had multiple places to hide quite a lot,

When all of the obvious places quickly were picked over,

Then came the hard ones, not just buried in clover,

These were tricky to find; hidden at unassuming places,

That caused the sudden halt to the frenzied foot races,

Standing still and surveying the yard with wide eyes,

It was a challenge to find: eggs were completely disguised,

The “golden egg” winner received a hollow chocolate bunny,

But it was mostly for bragging rights, on a day that was sunny!

Tammy Harvey

 3/8/2020