Medium, extra-large, jumbo,
high omega, vegetarian, free-range.
Ivy League newspaper ad reads:
Wanted: Jewish eggs, $10,000 – $50,000 paid.
Donor must have minimum 1500 SAT scores,
22 to 28 years, 5’5” to 5’9”,
at least, one Jewish grandparent.
Scores verified, affidavit of lineage required.
Highest rates: four Jewish grandparents
Sounds pricey, though Beluga or Faberge´
might fetch heftier sums.
I meet some requirements, including
optimal number of grandparents.
I wonder how much I could get.
Pity, I have no eggs left.
*First published in author’s book, Down to the Quick (Plain View Press, 2007)
Nancy Scott has been managing editor of U.S.1 Worksheets for more than a decade. She is the author of nine collections of poetry. Her most recent, “Ah, Men,” is forthcoming from Aldrich Press in 2016. Currently residing in New Jersey, she frequently writes about conflict, social justice, travel, and family narratives. www.nancyscott.net.
I like the poem and find it interesting. I, myself, an adoptive and biological parent, would not have wanted to “shop at the high-end market”, for Jewish only genes. I prefer my tsimmes of a family!
My wife and I were trying for years and even tried invitrio with a donated egg. It was all so heartbreaking. Thanks for this lovely poem…rings of truth abounding in it.