Only Natural

Smooth carapace cooling his tongue
imbecilic farmboy licks and turns
a white egg,
swaps it for another from the dairy fridge,

licks and turns.

In the newly-seeded vegetable patch
a hen blackbird,
nest to build,
gobbles up grains of soil.

Imbecilic farmboy licks and turns.

The narrow lane beside the barn
has wing-flicker martins
gathering mud from wet tractor ruts.

In the square green meadow
round orange hens
wander among the legs
of brown cows, pausing
now and then
to scratch and peck,

scratch and peck.

Imbecilic farmboy licks and turns.

From an inner room
comes mother’s screech.
Egg is quickly returned to tray,
fridge door bumped to a close.