The Chicken That Lived the Longest without a Head

The first few days produced the most surprise,
But then this chicken had his own routine.
Within the hole, where once his head had been,
He took his food and water, dropper size.

This chicken illustrated to the letter
The chicken jokes that people had to utter.
Like a comic basing his routine on pain,
The headless chicken gave and gave again.

After eighteen months, there was a change:
He choked to death upon a piece of corn,
A quiet death without dramatic fuss.
Yet still, he was miraculous and strange,
This chicken that had died and been reborn—
And never with a bird's-eye view of us.

Copyright © 2007 Kim Bridgford All rights reserved
from In the Extreme
Contemporary Poetry Review Press
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission