Silent Horror

This is about what goes through the mind of a chicken a few hours before it ends up on your plate....

It waits...
Stashed unceremoniously
In a wire mesh box of a cage
And stashed are others...
Someone's leg on it's head, someone's beak prodding its wing
Confused squawking and gawking
And then comes a rough sinewy hand
And grabs at a random leg
Panic and paranoia and pandemonium!
But not to the hand...to the hand its just food that goes "cluck cluck" before it cooks it
Clash and clang of pots and pans,
a glint of a knife
then blood and bones and feathers...
And its brother waits...
In onomatopoeic contemplation of its existence...
"SQUAAAWWK squawk squawk SQUAWK SQUAWK SQUAWK"
"THUD!"

Author's Note

Apparently, there is some confusion about the line "In a wire mesh box of a cage", so I feel I should clarify. The wire mesh box I am referring to is exactly that. Or rather, it is meant to be a cage. It is a small cubic contraption made of wire mesh and live chickens are kept in it, sometimes two or three to a box. I have seen this in Bangalore. I don't know how it is done elsewhere in the world. I used the phrase "box of a cage" for a very specific reason. A "cage" merely signifies captivity...it implies the confinement of a living creature...but a "box" is merely a container. Used to store "things"...likewise, the chickens are stowed away as if they are inanimate objects, not creatures with life. That, is the significance of the line...I probably could have worded it better...must go down as a failure on my part.
Cheers!
Augustus

Reviews

[NoneOfYourBusiness akaK..]

Augustus~ from the first four lines I immediately grasped the subject matter of this gripping poetic~ the fact that you relate the hen as 'it' clarifies the perception of societies that utilize caged animals for food~and makes this poem all the more wrenching~ I wrote a poetic myself along these lines from the perspective of a bovine~ being a vegan for decades~ your poem had all the more effect on me~

[Sara]

hmmm, what a strange, odd little piece! ;) i'm not sure if i find it humorous or kinda grotesque... it's definitely well-written and i think you've (vividly) captured what those poor birds go through before their death... good use of animated, slightly absurd language, and the alliteration of 'panic and paranoia and pandemonium' is genius... makes me want to become a vegetarian for the millionth time :-/

[emmajoy]

Not a subject one would expect to find in a poem, but, then poetry is about the pain and joy of life. You've expressed the happening succinctly and your wording, as before, is gently put .. even for this event.

Re. your box/mesh/cage differences with other reviewers: if you were writing prose I suppose, maybe, you'd put a 'meshed cage-like box .. ' !!!

[J.Black]

Well, after reading the little blurb before the passage I knew this was going to be interesting! Middling stated that: ""In a wire mesh box of a cage"" didn't seem to make much sense, I however seem to disagree and think that it does. I just don't like the way it's worded, and think it can flow a little smoother- but it does make perfect sense. A cage that's boxed with mesh. WELL DONE though!

[Ruth]

Interesting metaphors friend!
Really powerful piece
xx

[Middling]

An intersting poem to say the least, quite an unorthodox poem for someone to write. Very thoughful.

But however i dont know if this line here makes any sense...
"In a wire mesh box of a cage"