He was the slowest in his class,
The little bashful boy named Craig.
She knew he wouldn’t understand
When she had handed him the egg.

But not to give him his own egg,
She felt would just be too unfair.
And if he didn’t comprehend,
She knew the others wouldn’t care.

Each was to fill his plastic egg,
For their class Easter Show and Tell,
Something to depict the season
That they could fit inside the shell.

Excitement showed on each child’s face
As they came up with egg in hand.
Each egg held a hidden treasure
Carefully placed on Teacher’s stand.

The last to place his treasure there
Was little, bashful, backward, Craig.
With slow steps he brought it forward,
Reluctant to give up his egg.

As she opened up each treasure,
The child would come and tell with pride.
How Easter was depicted by
The object that was placed inside.

One egg had held a pack of seeds,
‘Cause seeds contain the hope of life.
Another held a cactus thorn,
A symbol of His pain and strife.

She waited ‘til the very last,
To open up the one marked Craig.
Then carefully she put it down,
For he had brought an empty egg.

Craig came up to join the others,
And standing there in happy line.
Without his usual stutter,
Said, “Teacher, won’t you open mine?”

The teacher, lost for what to say,
In answer to Craig’s woeful stare,
“But Craig, I looked inside your egg.
There’s absolutely nothing there!”

His answer caused her eyes to tear
As Craig explained it to the room.
“When Mary went down to the grave,
That’s what she found in Jesus’ tomb.”

I don’t know where I first heard this story but it’s been around for quite a while. It was just the kind of story that I like to make into a poem. The Bible says that out of the mouth of babes and sucklings comes praise, Matt. 21:16. I, of course, gave the little boy a name that would make my job easier since it rhymes with egg. (A poet’s prerogative.) This is a wonderful poem for church secretaries to include in the church bulletin on Easter Sunday.