x
Menu
Poetry  – 

How to Kill a Rooster

 

Because he’s spurred you
grab him by his neck and his legs
Hold him in both your hands
Look him in the eye
Let him ask
if you are to kill him today
Then tell him yes—say yes
with your own eye
Just before you take him
to the clothesline
and tie him up by his yellow feet
Take a blade
Cut his throat
Watch his blood drip to the ground
Watch his wings spread
and flap and flap and
while you watch this desperate bird
and think to yourself

I will never be like him
remember in the end you will
drop him in boiling water—pluck
each of his oily feathers
between your fingers
Remember in the end
you will taste him
for good