NaPM April 27, 2018

[Knot]

Ubiquitous survivor strutting

from the the long shadow

of Tyrannosaurus Rex.

My grandfather bared your throat,

index finger hooked beak, knife

cut once, a tap left running
in the sink, life washed clean away.

Neither you nor I made a sound.

Measure success in numbers,

measure success in possibility.

Outpouring of the Indus,

flowing west to Lydia, to Greece

a torrent flooding into the present.

Scratch the surface, appetites

swiftly satisfied,

the indifference of a shallow grave.

Painted ostracon, black ink

crowned 'the bird that gives birth

every day'.  Found before

the boy king.

Incubators of contagion, a feast,

death, awaiting a warm breeze.

Range limited,

free to stay

behind the fence,

denied flight

gift to a fox.

Poor cousin, the rich red

jungle exchanged for cage,

fluorescent lighting; confined

to less than this page.

Cut for pain, bloated, blind,
bred for this and nothing else.

Bread-crumbed, spiced,

deep-fried, drowned,

chicken in name only.



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