ROOST
My chicken laid an egg today
I’ll eat it for my tea
I’m so grateful for my little hen
who lays her eggs for me.
At least, I always did assume
she laid it just for me,
I never really thought about
how my chicken feels.
She looked at me this morning
from her little roost,
and as I took her egg away
I thought I saw her droop.
But that could only be
my own imagination,
surely creatures never feel
the depths of our emotion?
I can’t allow myself to think
that she hung her head in sorrow,
as I took away her egg to eat –
or I’ll not eat one tomorrow.
copyright Roisin Duffy