“Pledge Drive” by Annie Won

by Jen Tynes

Another sneak peek at the poems in our collab chapbook Pledge Drive, which you can receive for $10 through our spring subscription/pre-order drive! 

PLEDGE DRIVE

Annie Won

a chicken that expects to be fed every day assumes

every day it starts to firmly believe that humans are kind

every day the chicken is fed a little more and every day

the humans come

the chickens dances so the humans come

the kind humans come to feed the chicken every day

the children come and the chicken is fed and

the chicken dances, so

the crowds come. nations of crowds come to watch

the chicken dance and tents and port-a-potties

all over town, and soon more adults come and

every day, the measure the chicken for size

the feeding continues and the chicken wonders

when it can sleep because right now

the chicken is being fed, and the children are happy

the chicken dances, the chicken is fed, and the child

who watches her stopwatch

because the chicken dances, it’s a timed routine

nothing in the chicken’s life points to

the fact that tomorrow it will be made into

a chicken pot pie

which will be delicious tomorrow and

contains the whole chicken