Category Archives: poetry

by Paul Hostovsky We were talking about chickens and I said,How did we get onto chickens?And you said, Why do you always do that?And I said, Do what? And you said,Why do you always want to go backin the conversation and retraceyour steps? And I said, Because I’m curiousabout how I got here. And youContinue reading “Chicken or Egg”

by Daniel Z. McKenzie SinkingIn the family couchI’m sheltered in a humble haven,Fleeting respite from the clangingOf cramping mortal subcreation.Within the mellow country clamorA final tense, then exhalation,My soul can bathe     In liberation. Creak!My sister rolls the sliding doorAnd beams a prodding grin.There nestled ‘neath her nodding chin:A leghorn-maransWith silk feathers for handsAnd a dishonest gleamContinue reading “A Homecoming Détente”

by JL Peridot Where did you go, my gossamer boy?You crowed your summer song too softand one verse short.Sunset clucks in your absence:wistful memory of a voice,pecking my cheek and disappearingon the autumn breeze. JL Peridot writes love letters to the future on devices from the past. She lives with a couple of good eggsContinue reading “That One Summer (Chicken Edition)”

by Spencer Keene Another egg slips from youAnd you feel half-an-omeletteLighter—brighter now underThe barn’s single glowing eyeThat blinks open with the dusk. You pluck three chin feathersAnd watch them curl down toPockets of stale hay like wingsFluttering to Earth in searchOf Farmer’s empty pillowcase. Sometimes you wonder aboutMother—her plush breast andAuburn bloom of plumageAlways theContinue reading “Ode to a Hen”

by Laween Ismaail Once I had a chicken coop,In it, a young man. The young man would crouch down to stoop—Of the chickens, he was a fan. I recall this man was particularly fond,Dressing himself up supreme. He was the ruler of the chickensAnd the devil for the cats,Ominous.Yet serene. For this young man stoodContinue reading “Old Coop Guard”

by Miles “Danger” Kennedy I’ve heard you walk for minutes after.If allowed you’d strut away, but cagedwings cannot fly, only fry. Not that they’d help you: fightis the only natural response whenyour purpose ensconced in sauce or crisp of gold,disallows your being.Denuded of snood for fast food or soup for sick kids,denuded of feather forContinue reading “the other side”

by Portia Yu Consider the egg:it has no artificeit cannot make up for its lack of feathersso it forms a layer of hard deniala shell of strict identityfloating in its centre, the yolk sits like an eye held steadyin this waythe egg perceives itself Consider the chicken:all noise and movementevery squawk is matched with aContinue reading “What came first”

by Kara Beechler My father-in-law owns land in a state of delusionThey call it FloridaYou know, the one that promised divine conclusion Each morning he wakesEats his homegrown eggsand leftover pancakes Soon he is greeted by the leader of the flockWith a loud shoutthat echoes throughout Good grain, grassgreen mossFeathers floating,Then claws adjust He saidContinue reading “Breaking News: Florida Man Cares for Coop”

by Paula Montez I’m sure you’ve heard the storyOf Chicken Licken and the sky—An acorn hit her headAnd she thought the end was nigh. ‘The sky is falling down!’She squawked with some insistence,Her pals all rallied round andOff they went to seek assistance. The Fox then caught a whiffOf panic in the air,Offered them assuranceOfContinue reading “The Real Chicken Licken”

by Martina Matijević chickens’ movie nightthey agree on a horrorand choose cooking show Martina Matijević is a poet from Croatia whose work has been featured in Under the Bashō, Haiku Commentary, Dadakuku, The Sciku Project, Cold Moon Journal, and others. After she had been diagnosed with severe anxiety, she decided to spend more time helpingContinue reading “Movie Night”