I, a Hen

by Ann Spiers 

Ann Spiers, Sunny Side Up, digital photograph, 2026. Courtesy of the artist.

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I, A Hen

By Ann Spiers
SEPT/OCT 2026 | Issue 55

POETRY

I, a hen, am at the wheel
in my pickup, red Toyota, heat on full blast.
My eggs incubate under the dashboard,
in the cup holder, glove compartment.
Shells crack, chicks foul the floorboards.
Occasionally, I roll down the window
to let them fly, free range, full feathered,
sassy fat, my sisters, Red Jungle fowl.

I am jumpy giving her a ride.
She’s a human and climbs up next to me.
The gears, four on the floor, separate us.
Her patchouli stink counter-punches
wafts of chicken shit. Feathers poke
from her unbraiding hair. Random fluff
lodges in all seen orifices: nostrils, ears, teeth.

She’s a circus geek, lowly billed.
She manhandles a live chicken,
gnaws its neck, off with its head.
She chews the noggin whole, swallows,
chases it with a slug of white lightning.

I am playing chicken with her.
It gets my wheels rolling,
this taking chances with geeks.
She is danger, killing my kith and kin
on stage. But what gets her on the road
to the next carnival? Hunger? Skanky stardom?

Uneasy strangers, we pee by the roadside.
Unbidden in my truck, she eats my French fries.
Will she eat me too? Recognize my hen-ness?
See I am more chicken than woman? After laying
so many eggs, my brood patch is raw,
perfectly placed between my breasts.
She pecks me there, splays my warmth.

I like being another sideshow.
There is no unnecessary talking.

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Ann Spiers lives on Vashon Island, Washington, where she stewardsthe community poetry post, was the inaugural poet laureate, and works with the island's conservation groups. Her recent books are Rain Violent and Wild Cucumber (both Empty Bowl), Back Cut (Black Heron), and Harpoon (Ravenna). She loves to read at poetry readings and to listen. Recently North American Review publishes her book review. In October 2026, her haiku join translator Incho Lee and artist Bolinas Frank in a collaboration presented at the Elisabeth Miller Horticulture Library at the U. of Washington.