'Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road?' by Femi Morgan

Why did the chicken cross the road?

To form an alliance across the Niger

To join fellow chickens in a spree of cake

To become prominent-maybe, maybe not

Why did the chicken cross the road?

To campaign for vegetarian democracy, I guess

But chickens want to be rich and famous

Chickens want to preach

Chickens are brothers, sisters

Full of colour and prejudice

Why did the chicken cross the road?

To further its show-biz on a reality road show

you should ask the writer of the road

Chickens want libertine liberation

Chickens want social media pages, selfies-

Chickens want to tweet at followers’ beck

Chickens want endorsements and awards

Want to crackle in British and American panache

Chickens need to read

Contemplate

Chickens need to unite

And there will be no need to ask the question

Or to make chicken soup.

Femi Morgan is a curator, writer and wizard. His first poetry collection 'Renegade' is available on Okada Books. This poem was  first published  by sankofamag at its manuscript stage.

UPDATE

This post has been corrected and re-edited. Renegade is out and the e-copy copy is available on Okadabooks. The printed version will be out later in the year.

READ: 10 Nigerian contemporary poetry books you should read right now