We love Gretchen Primack‘s animal rights-themed poetry and are thrilled to publish this poem from her Kind collection (with her permission, of course).
We’re grateful, too, for the beautiful, animal-themed holiday cards designed by Beth Lily Redwood that a lucky flock member can win today!
Not yet a flock member? Now’s the best time to join – your contribution will be matched, dollar by dollar, through the end of the year — thanks to our Barnyard Benefactors! Join us, for the animals!
***
Coxcomb
by Gretchen Primack
Here was where
the bully could not reach.
– Greg Kuzma
Abraham was a rooster. He’d been made to fight. He was not a fighter.
He ended up in a basement with a “No one touch the killer!”
We brought him to the sanctuary. He loved peanut butter and jelly.
He loved laps and Linda’s pillow. He was not a fighter. He wanted
to be held by toddlers, phi beta kappas, grievers and
socialists and pop stars. He wanted you to gentle his comb
between your forefinger and thumb. It was a smooth, warm piece
of a smooth, warm Abe, and it blushed bliss. It was tender
like someone who has been as unloved as a chicken
and then as loved as a chicken could be.
He grew old and full of love and died, rubbing his head back
and forth, back and forth against Linda’s arm. We planted
coxcomb, a growing glow.
***
Flock! Read on for your chance to win some beautiful, animal-themed holiday cards designed by fellow flock member Beth Lily Redwood!
#PRIVATE#
Greetings, fantastic flock!
Send me an email — anne [at] ourhenhouse [dot] org — with your postal address by midnight ET on Friday 10/30, and you’ll be entered the contest to win a set of holiday cards designed by fellow flock member Beth Lily Redwood. These cards feature residents of the Out To Pasture Sanctuary with the cover message “Celebrate Life!”
You’ll want to keep (at least) one for yourself.
Cock-a-doodle-doo,
Anne
