[The Rooster is Perfect]
       

The rooster is perfect
with his little fat feathered breeches
mohawk, muttonchops
hollering the sunlight down the whole hillside
his beak, his stone-chip eyes are perfect
he wakes at dawn drinking wine
all day he plays scopa and talks politics
keeps one hard eye on the hens
hanging laundry from the balconies
perfect the way he solves polygamy's
minor inconveniences, climbing the perch
to guard all the nests at once
he lets the hen eat first
of the food she's made him
especially the way he mates
hackled and cockles, cloaca to cloaca
like two surprised mouths
after the hen has been chased
pinned in the dust by the dust-
sharpened beak
especially the half second of touch
before the flight away
is perfect

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Copyright © 2012 Colleen Abel All rights reserved
from Rhino
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission