Chick

By

George O. Obikoya

A new day is gone

Nestled out of view

Now lay my head

Await yet the next

Stuck in a tiny pen

Cuddled one and all

So make the night

How best all to do

As late glows ebb

Heralds life anew

Of horns that ache

Eyes so very sore

My kin all so must

Still may not see

The long lost souls

Keen all so to know

Not just so we do

City life now is real

Yet, we all crave so

To live so well too

New still we are

To live life anew

In a tiny patio pen

So far from home

Cracks lay all bare

Old shells strewn

All around us all

Where once home

With mother gone

Lord who knows

Just a pen to show

We all bear a mark

With only a nuzzle

Too warm to forget

Even if just a day

Will sure ever last

Not even if it aged

Or it was what else

Should be why we

All must hurt so

Others follow suit

But they all still say 

That the frying pans

Are not new homes

So why be so mad

Some do run away

Jaded all for sure

Life is full of hope

It sure takes a will

To venture so away

In a strange terrain

On busy city streets

Our pristine farms

Cock crows alarms

Where haze so meek

Caresses the sunrise

Its now just dreams

Life so now so new

Our reverie sure is

That hope lives on

So may be someday

We will be back too

To roam free again

In the countryside

The farms beckon

Our adored ranch

Lamentations too

Fill its warm soul

Sure must be nice

To be beached too

Again in the real

Pens in the yard

Yet, some say no

To the dawn crows

Yes to chick aroma

Only on the roast

Others worry too

We are all chased

On street corners

To fete buffet wares

Even others loathe

It costs city funds

For a shelter that is

Just a lunch pad too

Yet, many say yes

That it is sure wise

That the eggs help

At breakfast is true

It may even be so

With such pain all

Some lay in wait

To settle the game

It brings us down

Some also now say

Homes now cheap

Where chicks lay

So let us be now

Go on, forget us

Eggs there plenty

In stores all over

We want liberty

Like you to roam

To live and love

Our life for real

In country we all

Belong not in city

In chaos you love

Ours rural reigns

Let us play again

With farm kids all

Run around free

Lacking not you

Concrete is not us

Barns so we love

With love from all

In our little world

We miss the hills

Its ever slow brook

Where the kids play

And live life so full

We love our meals

Simple yet so pure

Not ones we choke

Ever here to poke

The life you crave

Lacks what really is

True love of nature

You claim you seek

As you ever thrash

Gifts to truly cherish

Hard so just to gain

Wilt this nature still

The gift of life is real

Even as it is so free

Once gone you lose

So dear a gift to all

You want us home

Like so many others

You toss once done

With the bygone pet

You love our eggs

But say we stink so

Soil you paths too

And fly in your face

It seems so dismal

To see you so vain

Not sure as always

How much you are

Leave us out of this

Your homes belong

To you and to yours

We have homes too

You starve your cats

Lock your dogs up

Let them out alone

To fend ever on own

You let tigers out

In cities to prowl

The naive for food

And not you care

Just so you gain

A sense you care

You root out cubs

From the lion’s den

Alligators now reign

In city swamps too

Since you decided

To dump your pet

They are all over now

Left not so to thrive

Ecology in shackles

With no mercy to live

So why us now too

We ask once again

That you let us be

In the wild we know

We are farm chicks

And proud so to be

Living all in peace

Beset not by greed

Life is yours so true

In the cities you built

The tunnels and all

For some homes too

Some of us are there

To hide from reality

No one wants to hear

Or so claim for good

We want to live too

Not in cryptic caves

Under the city streets

None truly should be 

Care for your folks

They languish under

Your stomps above

For all to gain anew

The slums are filled

Near your mansions

With muck and want

You can do more

Free us all we pray

Show us some love

Leave us alone now

That is real love

We are wont to roam

And see the world

Ours that matters

To us you don’t see

Now you lock us all

In tiny pens at home

To lay and hatch ever

Our eggs you gain

We all must reflect

Think it over now

So it is not too late

To mend our ways

Life is for all also

To hold all for gain

Here now and ever

In faith, hope, and love

It matters not ever

Your station anytime

In the grand scheme

That eternally binds

Live life in full we say

And its pain with nerve

In this endless scheme

In our own little way

We deserve dignity

Some respect too all

And so sure despite

That they are chicks

We sure love you

And will forever do

But let us be we say

To live happy as you

We love our homes

Just as you do too

To enjoy the life

In farms not cities

Life for us is short

More so than yours

So give us a chance

To live it all in full

We wish you well

In all you ever do

As life is in us too

So we crave to keep

Share all noble goals

To pave the way too

For an endless bliss

That is life in truth