Against city ordinances, a woman
keeps five chicks in her basement
until they grow large enough
to live in her backyard. No months
of red tape, no permits. The woman’s
protest against rising prices and urban
sprawl turns into omelets, an egg-hatching
science project for second graders, a pound
cake, a neighborhood reminder to catch
the sunrise. Eventually noodle soup
for the neighbor’s cold if she can
catch the darting old hen. Both beak
and chin stretch forward to gain speed.
By Jari Thymian