Chickens Want to Mess Up the Neighbor's Garden

By Susan Bumpers

Every day the chickens are let out at 7:00 a.m.

They eat the corn that’s been dumped

in a pile on the dirt

and drink from the muddy water bowl.

They circle the house a few times,

and then,

when the sun hits

its highest point,

they pick the seeds out of the neighbor’s garden.

-

The neighbor complains

they’re tired of the wreckage;

they want something to be done.

The chicken coop is made a little bigger

and fully fenced in.

-

Every day the chickens wake up at 7:00 a.m.

They eat the corn that’s been tossed

over the fence

and drink from the molding water bowl.

They walk around the coop a few times, and then,

when the sun hits

its highest point,

they shit by the locked coop door.