Hard boiled

I am an egg 

Hard on the 

outside 

By necessity

An egg develops a shell 

To protect what's inside

But the shell is fragile

Easily broken

Sometimes eggs are hard boiled

Which is basically boiling the egg in water

And then making it stew in it until 

Done--a variable amount of time

Hard boiling an egg doesn't change 

The shell

Only

The stuff underneath 

Still

Fragile

Still

Thin

I must be a hard boiled egg

I am hardened by the heat and time

It's been a long time 

My shell is broken 

And won't come off easily

It has to be peeled off in tiny pieces

And can't be done alone

Sometimes the shell is reluctant to

Detach from the white 

It sticks on as if adhered with 

Superglue

But nobody wants shell in their egg salad

The hard boiled egg is of no use if 

Full of

Shell

The shell must come off

The insides must be exposed

The self-protection must be

Ripped away