Henny is Smart

Two Poems by Sasha Thurmond

One

Soft breeze wafts in summer dog days

Glancing out kitchen window I see 

Henny scratching  outside of her cage

Lance inside watching Henny his tart

Lucky Henny finds chicken buffet

Lance wondering how she escaped.

Scratch scratch... Henny is smart.

Crowing loudly Lance wants out too

Me content to watch through the pane

Scratch scratch... Henny is smart.

Heavy alert, here comes my dog Tux

I race outside yanking truck door ajar.

Tux wanting a ride more than a treat,

He vaults inside and I slam the door shut. 

Lance crowing loudly, still ready for war.

Henny franticlly scrambling about 

Me using bare hands to guide her inside

Lance held his point till she was back at his side. 

Me securing gate to their lovely abode,

Scratch scratch...smart Henny was home.

Two

Henny is smart....scratch scratch...

Lancelot and Henny were as happy a couple

as couples can be....but I like more eggs

which two hens can lay

So I got Solo from my neighbor's huge lot

Solo was sweet, and tan mottled feathers 

set her apart.....but Henny is smart...

scratch scratch

Out of the blue, things popped in my thoughts

even again, past ones that flopped

Bent on success to turn this around, 

I left the gate open, just slightly ajar

Henny and Solo clucked back and forth

finally Solo edged her way out

Henny is smart...scratch scratch...

once things seemed safe, Henny walked out

Lance wouldn't join them, remembering well a previous jaunt

When I had two dogs on leashes I held,

I let all my chickens free to explore out of their digs.

soon I was dragging behind my strong team,

released them both when my face hit the dirt 

Chickens scattered every which way

Lance was mangled and down for the count

grabbing his legs, I placed him back in his cage

where he was dead, but safely away .

Five minutes later, Lance came back from the dead...even I was happy he did.

 This time I kept my distance and watched the hens feast,

after a spell, I herded them back toward their cage.

Henny was smart...scratch scratch. Soon she joined Lance

safely back inside .Solo was scared flapping wildly while running away

Lance got brave flying out to save her from me.

I scooped her up after a chase, me after her, and Lance after me

next he lanced me with both of his spurs

but I managed to grab Solo during our flight

I sprinted away clutching my prize, but suddenly she wet me

right on my shirt, I lay her down gently back in the cage

but something was wrong...she was motionless and gone.

I pivoted and scrambled out of the cage

just in time to elude Lance's rage.

Rebuking myself I locked the door shut

again I had two, and Henny is smart...scratch scratch.

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Sasha Thurmond is a graduate of the Cornell University MFA program where she majored in printmaking. She lives on a farm in South Carolina with her horse and other animals, and sometimes finds time to make art or write poems or stories.

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