Cover — A gentleman by Milli Vedder
My Father Doesn’t Know I Wasn’t a Bird When I Was Born by Olivia Mettler
hatchling writes to mother hen by Sorren Briarwood
Can’t Chicken Out by MJ Huntsgood
The Hen by Rebecca Stansfield
If It Laughs, Peck Its Toes by Anisha Mascarenhas
Cheryl Gets Her Lashes Done by Daisy Noelle
Hen Party by Michael Eyre
Squawk by Paul Hostovsky
chicken goes to grocery store by Siobhan Mulligan
Good Meat by Maya-Gawonii Shabazz-Saleh
to the chicken at the back of my kitchen by Taiwo Hassan
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Editor’s Note
by alliyah
When you are an editor of a zine dedicated to chickens you really start seeing chickens everywhere you go. As a self-avowed fan of chickens it makes me happy to see them! But more than this, seeing chickens everywhere has started to remind me to pause and look for the poetry, story, and beauty in those everyday places too.
Some literature and art asks us to imagine a reality far beyond our daily lives, and some literature and art simply asks us to dig a little deeper into the emotion and beauty of what we are already living through. This zine touches on ordinary everyday life moments of family life, relationships, our daily tasks, burdens, heartaches, and dreams. Each piece invites the reader to reflect on the depth of these ordinary moments .
I hope this issue helps you pause and take the opportunity to reflect on where the chickens are around you! Where is there poetry in an ordinary interaction? Which conversation invites questions for more of the story? What field, table, farm, or hair-salon is waiting to become art?
Thank you to this edition’s talented contributors for giving us your take on these ordinary moments. Keep writing and creating! Thank you to our readers for continuing along this journey of chicken-sightings along with us!
Editor’s Note
by Rook
In April I had the opportunity to represent COOP (and the other, similar publication I am also an editor for, Croak) at a local literary festival. There I spread the excellent news that yes, there is in fact a lit mag for chickens, and I gave away some prints with art we’ve published on the front and poems we’ve published on the back. I also participated in a round-table discussion with other local journals and presses where we all gave our perspective on what goes into running a magazine or a press. It was very exciting stuff!
But I remember one interaction well: Someone came up to our table and, after I had given my little spiel about what we’re doing here, said, “Oh, I mostly just write about people.” And I so wish this issue had been finalized by then so I could show it to them, because it feels like this issue is characterized by its focus on humans rather than chickens. Sure, each piece at least mentions chickens, but what are most of them really about? People!
Animals can tell us so much about ourselves and how we relate with others. I love how many stories we have in this issue that center around families and how they can be loving and hateful, soft and hard, amazing and amazingly difficult. Chickens often serve as a locus for memory focused on domestic experiences. They are a catalyst for very human-centered narratives.
We hope this issue will inspire you to try writing your own chicken memory narrative or poem and see what truths it may reveal. Thank you as always to all our contributors. Your wonderful creativity means the world.