Category Archives: poetry

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”

by CJ The Tall Poet Cabbage worms of various sizesWere ruining my lovely gardenThe total amount was eighteenThey were eventually placed in a small cupI secured the top with another cupIt might be a waste but who caresMorning abruptly arrivesI dump all these wormsIn my front yardThen a feathered friendComes to enjoy the randomly placedContinue reading “Oh Cabbage Worms”

by Kurtis Ebeling in the heavy summer swaths     of light and airunder the limbs of a crabapple tree      shadows stretch     and bloom against grasswith small white flowers as chickens tiptoe     bob their necks      and cluckquietly      along the taller weeds—growing into     a fence of greeningwood and thin wire —to peck at the soft flesh     of rotting fruit      swelteringin the sweet summerContinue reading “Chickweed”

by Sarah Watkins my barefoot days were spentharvesting velvety catalpa worms catching vibrant green grasshoppersfor the chickens tossing them red-tinged watermelon rinds from dinnerand watching them snip, snip, snip until only the darkest green was leftand I swore each time I caught a grateful glintin the beady matriarchal eye of the scissor-beaked chickenwho always gotContinue reading “Childhood memories of feeding the chickens”