A Chicken Strays from the Neighbor’s Flock by Sharon Waller Knutson

A coyote follows
the brown hen
from the neighbor’s
yard as she traipses
across our property,
breaks her neck
as she bends
to pick up the popcorn
kernel on the ground.

My husband stands
at the window watching
the blizzard of feathers
as the coyote carries
the dead chicken back
to his den and the rooster
crows a warning:

Predator in our Midst
as the sun rises in the valley,
just like the warning
we gave our neighbor
when she got the chickens
and let them roam
in the wildlife habitat.

The neighbor wagged
her finger as she does now
when she sees the feathers
covering our lawn. It’s your
fault my chicken is dead,
she says. You lured coyotes
with your water. And my
chickens with your snacks.

We close the door knowing
reasoning with her is like
trying to convince a hungry
coyote to stop dining
on the smorgasbord of squirrels,
chipmunks and chickens,
fearing the feral feline is next.



Sharon Waller Knutson has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net. She has published 12 books of poetry, including the most recent, The Leading Ladies of My Life (Cyberwit 2023) and its sequel, My Grandfather is a Cowboy (Cyberwit 2024). She has published 1,000 poems in more than 60 publications. She is the editor of Storyteller Poetry Review and lives in Arizona.