Hen came to the deck door,

softly asking;

what, we didn’t know.

We were agog:

we haven’t had a chicken here in years.

But no, you can’t come in;

go back to your lady friends.

She jumped through the railings

onto the crazy lawn,

and wobbled to the big rhododendron

at the bottom of the yard.

Next morning we had to entice her

through the open gate,

so she could run off the wrong way

into the woods.