Poetry

Chicken Speak–TO BE OR NOT TO BE

Chicken Speak—

TO BE OR NOT TO BE

that is the question.

Whether tis nobler to walk

on egg shells

or rather

to boldly strut

cock fierce.

To plant one foot in the hen house

and the other

at the foxes lair

exhibiting

super Gumby

flexibility

and strength.

Or to simply roost

in the nearest Mango tree

dreaming

of Iowa corn fields

sinewy stalks

crunchy kernels

liberally sprinkled

with red lipped white grubs.

Or instead to fertilize

with flair

that extra special egg

the one

that stands out from the rest.

The good egg

that breaks the mold

that breaks wind

with a certain HEN NA SAIS QUOI!

That one egg

that

exemplifies

everything

chicken.

That one egg

that the others

defer to

when things get

scrambled.

That one egg

that flies in the face of

adversity

and comes out

smelling

like a ham.

Published by

Cornelia DeDona

Author/Photographer, and native New Yorker, Cornelia is currently a Member-At-Large of The National League Of American Pen Women. Cornelia lived in Kaneohe, Hawaii for thirty-six years. She makes her home in the Mid-Hudson Valley of New York. Her poems and photography are published in print, online and Rain Bird, a literary and art journal of the University of Hawaii's Windward Community College (2008-2013). In 2013, Cornelia received Rain Bird's Kolokolea Poetry Prize for her poem, "Speaking French." In October 2015 her chapbook "Hawaiian Time," entered in the National League ofAmerican Pen Women’s Vinnie Ream contest was awarded the 3rd place in their inaugural multi-discipline category. Cornelia's books: "Letters To A Prisoner" by Connie D. (Honorable Mention For Poetry in 2011 New York Book Festival) https://www.createspace.com/3512628 "Hawaiian Time" by Cornelia DeDona (Third Place Multi-Discipline inaugural Vinnie Ream Award) https://www.createspace.com/5751889 "Meadow Pause" (out of print) "Boogie Fever" (out of print) "Meadow Pause Revisited" (e-book) https://www.amazon.com/Meadow-Pause-Revisited-Connie-D/dp/1466366141 "Fire Dance" (e-book) http://www.blurb.com/ebooks/215568-fire-dance "Pasta Italiana" (a notebook with color photos of Murano and Burano) http://www.blurb.com/b/3697761-pasta-italiana "Saturdays With Lillian" (An Anthology from my days at University of Hawaii's Windward Community College) http://www.blurb.com/b/2006721-saturdays-with-lillian View all posts by Cornelia DeDona