I protect my chicks like
An impenetrable building
Against hawks and eagles
Quacking like a troublesome duck to show my love
But my chicks end up producing chicks
Chicks of chicks!
What kind of hen am I?
II
I teach my she-chicks how to bathe
I teach my she-chicks how to live to peck and grow
I teach my she-chicks the purpose of strength
I teach my she-chicks the need for age
I teach my she-chicks prime’s selection
It seems they heed not to my teachings
They end up producing weak and little chicks
Chicks of chicks!
What kind of hen am I?
III
I remember my time
I lived as a chick under the wings of my mother
I listened and grew
Shaking all cock advances
When my time was ripe, many cocks gathered
And begged for my wings
I did choose only the best
Although it didn’t work as planned
I have never regretted
Because chicks follow hens and cocks have many choices
If my chicks end up as chick mothers
What kind of hen am I?
IV
Why do I need to be slapped by disappointments?
Why do I need to be slapped by trust?
All cocks stare at me now
Their eyes asking what my impenetrable walls were for
What do I say?
How do I answer?
I sacked and taunted them for nothing
All the while, many of them laughed behind my back
Because they had my chicks under my wings
Chicks producing chicks!
V
Oh monstrous fate!
I think I’ve lived too long
Being branded a quacking guru and a bad hen
I really don’t know what I am
What kind of hen am I?
Probably a very ignorant hen!
Amoafowaa Sefa Cecilia © 2014
31 replies on “WHAT KIND OF HEN AM I?”
Good day! I cohld have sworn I’ve been to this website before but
after going through a few of the articles I realized it’s new too me.
Regardless, I’m definitely pleased I stumbled upon iit annd
I’ll be book-marking it and checking back frequently!
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Reblogged this on gracelarbi.
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🙂
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yeah – teenage pregnancy is horrible and really such a tragic thing because babes having babes is rough….
hope it all works out for your student ❤
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Hope so too. Thanks Prior.
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I’m sure you are an excellent teacher, but each person makes choices. This is a wonderful poem.
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Thank you. But I still think I should have counselled them more. Maybe I am not telling them things they need to know. Makes me sad.
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may I chime in here? well the sad part is that as I am sure you know “teenagers hear us now, but they listen later” – and they hear us but do not always get it – and then that sex drive is strong – and well, no excuses – but so much going on in their still maturing brains… lol
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You have it right and you put it well. Sad though because it will be too late when thee remember in the past and wished they had listened.
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yup – too late – and that is sad – 😦
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😦
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Would that we could protect all of the young chicks.. But we can’t. You provide them with the knowledge the they need to get along in the world, but what they do with it is their own choice. If, in spite of all, one of your pullets is attacked in your home area, is there legal recourse? Is the legal system part of the danger? None of that makes the full grown hens any less worthwhile as teachers, role models, as mothers. The hardest thing is if the rooster is a beloved rooster and molests your own pullets. It becomes difficult to trust your own judgment, again. But, if you figured it out, you do have good judgment. I have seen sneaky roosters hide and lie in wait to ambush people. Little kids say to the big ones “Go see if the roosters are hiding” They go walking around, and come back, and the little kids go and the durned rooster jumps on the little kids shoulders to peck their heads!! They steal from the hens to woo the youngsters. Mean critters!!! Sneaky and low-down rotten as some people
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You’re right. These mean roosters worsen our plight. Thank you for your deep insight. You managed to make me see the other mean side. I think i was blinded by my inability to prevent it. it really hurts still though. Not a good frame of mind it left me in. Thank God I have wordpress as my second home away from home. It makes me feel so sane. Thank you and blessings.
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Sometimes young Mothers are very good Mothers, as long as there is someone older with more experience to ask when they don’t know what to do. Youngsters have so much energy… it helps 🙂 And all those youthful hormones include a large dose of maternity hormones, That helps too. If she has not been mutilated or raped and she has access to good food, it might turn out OK.
For your own heart break, it is harder.
As for the rooster, the sneaky mean ones tend to end up in the soup pot.:-D They best watch out and behave. Here’s a little song for those low down nasty human roosters . And the old-timey blues guitar music is for us. Oh yes, they best be careful, The Devil Is Watchin’
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Ending up in the pot makes me laugh so hard, maybe it is the secret wish of mine to see them there. Thank you very much. The devil is really watchin’. 🙂
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😀 We women have learned a thing or two, along and along. Rooster meat tends to be stringy. Cut it small and put some onions is the pot, too. Hahahahaha
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Hahahahahaha. 😀 I am laughing my head off. Thank you so much. 😀
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Oh no, what a horrible situation! I know guys have many choices, and not being responsible is so easy for them! You should support that girl, and offer her all the options she can choose… and if she chooses to continue with this, then love and always support.
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I’m doing all I can trust me Lily. It makes teaching a pauper’s job as you are always in a constant need to help. Yesterday the news brought me to tears. This is the third time this year and it is not funny at all.
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Yes, it’s very sad. That doesn’t make you an ignorant or failed hen! And it’s very sad.
What kind of a hen are you? A wise old hen. A sad old hen. But not a failed old hen.
Elouise
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Thank you Elouise for always making me feel better. At 31, I feel like a very failed teacher during these times. The girls here have been made to understand that a girl’s role is in the kitchen. All I’m trying to do is to empower them, some are empowered, others give themselves out to be used and others are forced into marriages early. It’s sad and makes teachers like me feel lost.
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You’re more than welcome. Thanks for putting it all into such powerful words and images. You have a great gift–which comes at a great cost. Not that it makes you feel any better….Yet it’s true, and your voice is strong because truth is strong. One of my favorite theologians says the only way to fight the forces that are against us is by speaking the truth. Not by fighting. Hmm…Didn’t mean to go on….But I’m not deleting it, either! Hooray for the few young women who empower themselves!
Elouise
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Thanks for these powerful words. Blessings.
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You are writing so very well Cecilia and good to get the thoughts out and shared 😉
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A bit therapeutic I must say. I still very sad still though. Thank you for your kind thoughts.
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This a sad truth. Life and its wisdom does not prepare our youth. It did not for me. The pains and sorrows of life are the truths we need to learn
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I guess we need to. Horrible as it is, we still need to. Blessings.
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How wonderful!
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😦 Wonderful words. But the theme of teenage pregnancy is not that wonderful Cindy. Blessings.
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Interesting. 🙂
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Not interesting to me though. I wrote this after being told a while back that one of my students has taken seed. Only 16 years of age and the one responsible says he is not responsible. He is not picking his calls and she does not know where he resides. I am very sad.
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