A Hen's Adorned Fort Poem by Felix Bongjoh

(i)

A hen spins
her comb
crown as queen
of a racing
sprawling garden.

Within rising
fern and shamrock
walls of plants

and jumping trees
adorned
with lime
and harlequin leaves,

a gaudy fire
of flowers glows
with red

and bumblebee
petals
and gold flames
of gold chicks

adorned
with speckled

a garden
expands its wings
and tail,

a stretch to a gate
into unclothed sky
pouring

sunshine
to flow
down in waves
in the wind.

(ii)

Sharp flashes
of orange
and
turquoise
twinkling like stars,

fireflies
hiding in far-flung
places
harboring dots

and speckles
of slim light, creeping
down

to crown a hen
with a rouge
and taffy comb.

(iii)

The clucking hen's
speckled
overgrown chicks
squeak and cheep

down a narrow
garden lane
between hedges
and creeping vines

flaming
with a melting hue
and tumbling
ricocheted light,

as sun glitters
through a canopy
of leaves
and exploding buds,

life sprouting
with hairs
and feathers of flight
across
silver and cream air

and slow creep
on an umber
floor of sandy loam.

(iv)

In a world
of clucking claves
building
a fort for the hen's

chicks flowering
the garden floor
with gold,

a cruising gale
swoops down
the feet
of mother and chicks,

the hen
jumping up, as
she flaps
wings to carve out

space over her
home,
the heavy stone

of fear gripping her
like a crab,
when no hawk
has entered

the garden's widening
door through
tree branches

and narrow windows
of broken twigs.