by Terry Collett
Member since:
November 1, 2006

SEPTEMBER CHILL.

September 02, 2011 02:55 PM UTC
views: 0 | 4 people recommend this | comments: 18

Uncle brings in the dead chicken by
The neck and begins plucking out the
Feathers with a skill that fascinates
Your 10 year old eyes and as you stand
And watch the chicken gradually becomes
Nude and some how not so grand not so
Chicken-like and then Uncle cuts off the
Head and throws it a side and then guts
It and washes it through with water and
Then puts it down on a large plate where
It lays in a solemn silence without fanfare
Or hymns or prayers just Uncle lighting up
A cigarette and you staring at the chicken
Clean and pure and still and from the open
Window a cool evening late September chill.

Comments: 18

Dennis Gilman Sep 2, 2011, 3:09pm UTC
You grew up on a farm didn't you? All that is so familiar to me.
Terry Collett Sep 2, 2011, 3:16pm UTC
Thank you, Dennis. No, I was staying with my aunt and uncle in the country and all this was new to me. I was London born and bred at the time.
Dennis Gilman Sep 2, 2011, 3:44pm UTC
My children aren't used to it either. It upsets the younger daughter.
Terry Collett Sep 2, 2011, 3:56pm UTC
I guess it does.
Darin Waugh Sep 2, 2011, 3:28pm UTC
Nice!
Terry Collett Sep 2, 2011, 3:56pm UTC
Thank you, Darin.
Risa G. Sep 2, 2011, 5:38pm UTC
I was born in Brooklyn, something like that would freak me out. This is what I love about your poetry, Terry. The visualization - I can see the whole thing - upsetting or not.
Terry Collett Sep 3, 2011, 12:36am UTC
Thank you, Risa.
Bernard C. Sep 2, 2011, 7:14pm UTC
And the little guy goes - we thank the Lord for what we are about to eat..amen :-)) quite vivid imagery - thanks for sharing :-)

Thanks for submitting to
The Surreal Circus.
Terry Collett Sep 3, 2011, 12:37am UTC
Thank you, Bernard.
Angela A. Sep 3, 2011, 1:23am UTC
My grandpa was an avid hunter/fisherman. I grew up with him eating off the land
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Terry Collett Sep 3, 2011, 1:38am UTC
Thank you, Angela.
Heidi S. Sep 3, 2011, 1:54am UTC
Brings an emotionally upsetting image very clearly to my mind - which means it's excellent!
Terry Collett Sep 3, 2011, 2:00am UTC
Thank you, Heidi.
stephen berwaldt Sep 3, 2011, 9:02am UTC
A life of satisfaction is a life well spent... I think everyone should see the slaughtering of the food they ultimately eat...it helps us realize that a life has been given so that we can feast...
we all think chicken is something we buy in the supermarket wrapped in plastic and denuded of every evidence that is once lived. I once went through a packing plant that my wife's cousin managed and witnesses 200 hogs being slaughtered and prepared for market...they sell everything but the squeal... I never callously waste food anymore...

Great piece...you should call it "An Ode to Poultry...Not For the Chicken-Hearted". :)

Thank you submitting to the Gather’s Best Writers and Artists.
Terry Collett Sep 3, 2011, 2:06pm UTC
Thank you, Stephen, for reading & insightful comments.
Darlene B. Sep 3, 2011, 2:06pm UTC
As I read this post I can visual being on the farm that chill Septemeber day, fascinated by the slaughter of that chicken.
Terry Collett Sep 3, 2011, 2:46pm UTC
Thank you, Darlene.

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