Elegy for Clemetine’s Hens

Elegy for a Friend’s Hens
by Nan Seymour
( In conversation with the poem Better Angels by Eric Nelson)

Pet chickens typically live five years,
but not these divas—
at the age of seven,
they were far from finished
with their conversations.

They cackled happily,
relishing grapes, scraps of bread
and pasta. Backyard sovereigns,
Beloved rulers of the bugscape!

Christened by children:
Shaniqua, head of the henhouse
who loved to be held,
dark Delilah, with her feathery feet
and Beyoncé sway,
and Lucy, whose sensitivity
belied her mohawk.

An attack in the night
left Shaniqua and Delilah
dead and headless,
Lucy alive, but unrecognizable.
Her friends did what they had to do—
took her to the vet and put her down,
an act of mercy, both terrible
and necessary.

Now the three lie together
in the sudden quiet.

Let us remember their blend
of hubris and humility.
Let us recall the details:
Delilah’s bustle,
Shaniqua’s bossiness,
Lucy’s loyalty.

Who knows if they went to a better place?
The lives they lived here were good.

Let others speak of cherubim
and seraphim with swords aflame—
As for me, I prefer earthbound
blessings. I prefer to remember
these hens.