Soon as we could cope
we’d get our wings, one by one
show them our towels
the dream that drummed in our hearts
no bad habits. Fly the coop!
When you’re good to your chicks
the chicks will be good to you–
they’ll imitate your intricacies
and some weird habits pick up too.
But if you think like Matron Morton,
the “Mama” in that prison coop
you’ll lose more than your chicks and roos
and never get them to recoup (I know)
for even when we were good to our mother-hen,
Mama was never good to us.
So, as far as I know, there’s no habit that lives on
that I picked up from that old mother-cruel
She– concerned with the pecking order of our crew
jealous– forever consulting the mirror on the wall
over who was the fairest in the yard
and finding me– under her nose, oldest in her flock–
the one the mirror told her
was fairest in that land
would spare no niceties on me,
and extend the venom
out to get at my sisters
So, forgive me for
not picking up any habits from my mom
not sticking around to watch her downfall
disturbing the hierarchy in the flock
divorcing that roost
good riddance forever
soon as we get our
wings working –one by one, we’ll
show her the towel
Goodbye
And even Father stopped dropping a wing
and dancing in circles in her honor
so please quit,
stop noseying around on that matter.
As for that self-important cocky rooster,
not a-one of his habits I possess,
behaving as if he was the king of the coop
ha! I’ll take a dog for a father any day.
Roosters are hardwired to be affectionate, they say,
they’ll dance for you, tidbit you–
(that means to feed you),
follow you and think you exclusive
They do exist.
Remember about that heroic flock leader
that beat off that hawk for his hens?
but who, try as he did, had to give up a life
to a fox, no less–
too bad that life was the only one he had!
Well, not my old-man, I tell you.
They say a rooster comes to the flock full of affection,
that with one longish gaze you’ll reach his soul
that they just brim over with cordiality, they say,
too bad my rooster-father never heard of grace.
soon’s we could manage
get wings to work, one by one
show ’em our towels
Flee the coop
They’ll tell you that
a dog has nothing that a gentle rooster doesn’t possess
but I’ll tell you that
a dog has everything over my rooster-father
Talk of violence, anger, and intimidation– huh!
my rooster-pop might not have heard of these as vices
rooster aggression does not spell diffidence
perhaps in his younger days, he wasn’t allowed to forage
He would sneak around in the shadows,
move from cloud to shade like a predator — creepy
and crow at you at random like a barking dog
and if you showed that you’ve spotted him first
with jerky movements, he’ll come after you
intimidating you with a crazy stare and next, a hard peck
Oh, yes, my rooster-dad behaved as if his dog collar was too tight
as if in his younger days, he wasn’t allowed to forage
a squirt with a water loaded spray bottle would start as fun
but would soon escalate
to ruin the dress you hand-sewed and ironed
to wear to your evening date
the day did come soon
we grew wings, and one by one
showed them our towels
dream came through for me ‘n crew
took no habits. Flew the coop!
You’d think he’d turn friendly and more aloof as he grew older
but we grew bigger and bolder and wiser of their tunes
thus we took nothing to remind us of oppression
so that shit died with them, now ask me a better question.
***
© 2021 selmamartin.com
Image by Pia Nyström from Pixabay
Thanks for clicking on my story to read. The prompt today was not easy– I wanted to write something funny but this is what came out instead.
Here’s how the prompt reads:
Today’s prompt comes to us from Juan Martinez. It asks you to think about a small habit you picked up from one of your parents, and then to write a piece that explores an early memory of your parent engaged in that habit, before shifting into writing about yourself engaging in the same habit. You can see the original prompt (in quasi-cartoon form), along with a few other of Martinez’s prompts, here. Happy writing!
Thanks, but I couldn’t tackle the optional prompt as it stood, so, recalling how I’d had a dream about Chanticleer the other night, I added flair to a fictional tale that’s not normal. Folks, there exist no bad roosters and no bad hens. I believe that all animals will react to the way one treats them. If ever you see a rooster or hen acting cocky, that’s only because that’s how their human treats them.
I don’t know about training these beautiful feathered animals into behaving properly, (how is that determined, I wonder) but I hear people are involved in that very line of work. To them, a tip of my hat!
Anyone in the mood for a little Foghorn Leghorn memes (google search)? I was just introduced to these. Haven’t had time to make up my mind about them yet. But since this piece is about our feathered friends, here, I share the link.
The next item here, yes, I know. Kids and I adored this video. Hope you enjoy it.
TJ Kuenster Songs 933 subscribers Here is the opening song "Sun Do Shine from the Don Bluth Animation Film Rock a Doodle. This is a remix by the songwriter, TJ Kuenster, with all the voice-over dialogue taken out so you can listen to the song in the way it was intended. Glen Campbell's vocal is amazing! *** Thanks for this TJ Kuenster. Hope I'm doing this the 'correct' way. xo, Selma
Thanks for reading on Day 15 of NaPoWriMo. Thanks for the prompt, and as always, I wish you miracles.
- This Happened To Me: Thank You, Susi, The Short Of It - November 8, 2024
- Clasp The Hands and Know: A Poem by John Masefield - November 7, 2024
- Wordless Wednesday - November 6, 2024
Great job!!!! 😄
Exquisite!
I like your writing style.
Dera, thanks so much for commenting. And Dera, my sweet friend, would you get someone to help you fix that misleading notice that says that your website is unavailable. (I know you’re for real but even I cannot find you right away)
I don’t know much but try what I did once: give yourself a LIKE. THEN after a minute (or how ever long it takes for that LIKE to register) CHECK on who this DERA is by clicking on her from the list of people who have liked that post. What do you see?
Get WordPress happy-engineers to help. Best of luck. I wish you miracles.
xoxo Thanks, Dera. Hey, I hope you managed to get that fixed. I want to visit. Be well.