THE PROUD KING COCK

Once upon a time
A Cock who was the proudest male fowl of its village
…felt bigger than all others in the forest
Because its voice woke all
So it made laws only it could break
And enforced punishments none could escape
So all the other fowls worshipped it

II
Since the words of Cock turned into a bond
It crowned itself the King of Fowls
And ordered all to call it King Cock
…with the appellation
…Crower of the Grounded Universe
Unsatisfied with its position
It began to explore the sky
Flying a bit higher each day in its bit to conquer the sky
It settled on trees only to continue the next day
On one of such settlements
It landed on a tree where an eagle
…had hatched and left its young
Happy to be among the weak
…happy to have the power to lord over them
It stayed and started crowing orders

III
One such order was for the weak eaglets to fly
One of them did
…fell and died
The other was about to adhere to Cock’s command
…when its mother appeared
Eagle, out of anger, demanded to be told
…the whereabouts of its other young
Cock, alarmed about the the peak of Eagle’s voice
…started raining invectives at the incensed mother
Eagle, out of anger
…held its neck,
…and choked it to death
Feasting on its remains

IV
The fowls which waited on the ground
…for their king
…only saw its feathers
…and bones
Their loud crows of mourning sent a signal
…to Eagle and a nearby Hawk
They both swooped down to hunt more fowls
And warned the remaining fowls to know where their powers lie
Saying
“You can be a king in your jurisdiction
…but surely will be less than a meal
…in another, so know your bossing jurisdiction”
That ended the tale of the proud King Cock
…crower of the ground universe
Amoafowaa Sefa Cecilia ©December 5, 2020