by Anita Patel

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Supermarket chicken not same like kampong chicken

no taste lah – kampong chicken got muscle because run

around – very delicious – the meat brown colour-

this supermarket chicken so soft, so white…

as white as mansions standing in neat rows

where women once swept sandy paths 

and children whooped and chickens scurried 

– small joyful birds – scratching in red earth –

vivid squawk of lively feathers chased and cherished,

slaughtered lovingly and eaten with relish…

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Anita Patel’s work has been published in several journals including: Cordite Poetry Review, Backstory Journal, Not Very Quiet Journal and Mascara Literary Review. Her poetry was selected for Australian Book Review’s States of Poetry ACT, 2018. Her collection of poetry, A Common Garment, was published by Recent Work Press in 2019.