by B.C. Byron Digital The Chicken Shack,The Chicken Shack,Favorite place for afternoon snack.Healthy bird food from the griddle,Crispy outside,Chewy middle. Bless my feathers,This is good!I always eat more than I should.Stuff my beak with both my wings.What’s inside these glorious things? The recipe is all I wish,The ingredient in this lovely dish,The secret to myContinue reading “Not–so-secret Ingredient”
Author Archives: admin
Josie-the-Menace
by Loréna Bur Every day on their way to school, the children passed the statue without a glance. It honored Josiane, though the elders still called her Josie-the-Menace. Born with the cry of a storm and fed cow’s milk with tamarind from her first night, Josiane grew strong and striking—plump thighs, a heart-shaped chest, aContinue reading “Josie-the-Menace”
What Have You Done
by Blake Foster-Wagamon So much depends on the cockfight in the prehistoric yard, on the chicken that grows teeth faster than I can file them down. I find myself in its poppyseed pupils that catch more colors than I do and see a terrible lizard waiting for me. This chicken laid great, green, cretaceous eggsContinue reading “What Have You Done”
Spooky Party – Chickens Only!
by ghostlymatte Digital Art Ghostlymatte is a freelance illustrator who enjoys playing with shapes and textures. While chickens are not the main focus of his art, chickens have been a constant fascination for him ever since he first laid his eyes on them at age 8.
A Case of Fowl Play
by Simon Kaeppeli Herbert groaned and wrapped his faded purple bathrobe around his slumped shoulders. On the way out, he grabbed a shabby fedora – unmistakable lawyer attire, although long out of fashion. When he’d agreed to do pro bono work for the Sorcerers of Law Association, he imagined defending the weak, reforming the system,Continue reading “A Case of Fowl Play”
Farm to Table
by imarkanx Thisiron knife,wooden handled,from my father’s estate,stained by sweat,old chicken blood,imbued with his memory. In the farm shed,we butchered,reverent silence,wearing boots of black.Pluckingripe odorof wet feathers,assorted viscera,staining the dawn. Thirty birds,headless, heartless,heading to market:rinsed, wrapped, chilled.Weighed and priced—giblets extra. After market,we’d stop at Marta’s,eggs over easy,coffee black as our boots,clink of cracked plates,sizzle ofContinue reading “Farm to Table”
Alice in Bruges
by Rachel Turney Digital Photography Rachel Turney (she/her) is an educator and artist located in Denver. Rachel is a Writers’ Hour prize winner and her photography can be found on a few magazine covers. Her poetry collection Record Player Life is forthcoming with The Poetry Lighthouse. Website: turneytalks.com Instagram: @turneytalks Bluesky: @rachelturney
I keep trying to write a poem about roosters but write the chickens missing feathers on my family’s farm instead.
by Olivia Mettler Death’s a shining sun but roosters only seePearly white skull hung from a farmer’s apple tree Animal blood fills memories the children keep of homeLike unwatched chickens eating egg and bone Runt roosters face death to sunburst into menSeek backpay in the bodies of plump hens Olivia Mettler is a poet fromContinue reading “I keep trying to write a poem about roosters but write the chickens missing feathers on my family’s farm instead.”
Blood Moon Hen
by Brittany Redd She hatched under the gaze of a full blood moon. A crack of lightning hit the tin roof of her coop the very same moment she burst from her shell, feet first. She was an unusual little thing, the runt of her brood, always going left when her brethren would go right.Continue reading “Blood Moon Hen”
Threshold
by Grace Brooks In the yard a small body gathers dusk,beak ticking at stonesas if they were locked doors. No one names her,yet her shadow carries a crown,and in the hush between clucksthe air ripples like water touched by stars. What seems foolish—the shuffle, the dusted skirt,the half-winged struggle of ascent—is only the earth rehearsingitsContinue reading “Threshold”