Chickens were my truest friends. I spent hours talking to those hens. While the rooster crowed and strut about, the hens and I would hash it out. I made other friends- a skunk or two, a baby owl, some bunnies too. I tried to rescue baby birds, fallen from nests or somehow hurt. When I was 9 we moved away and I remember to this day I so loved being a country girl. That move forever changed my world. I never was the same again. I still miss those animals I called friends.
Cynthia Hernandez,
I was raised a city-girl, but at the time, it seemed I lived in the country, too. We could raise chickens, ducks, and horses were a regular mode of transportation riight here in the City of Compton. Your poem brought back memories of the fresh eggs I had to gather when I visited my grandmother’s “city farm” in her backyard. It was warm and I just wanted to pick some fresh green beans!
That’s awesome. I cleaned up the poem a bit, and hopefully improved its rhythm and imagery. I’m glad you connected to it even in it’s raw form. I’m glad it invoked some memories. That’s cool that there were horses used as transportation in Compton. I got to ride a horse to school a time or two in 4th grade, and I will never forget that. My early years (birth to 9) were spent in rural eastern Washington. I still visit there, and I had connections there throughout my life. One day I’ll have some farm animals again. 🙂
Love the country spirit this evokes!