Stone chicken - a Poetry Friday post - Writing and Ruminating

Stone chicken - a Poetry Friday post

Dec. 1st, 2016 at 3:19 PM

This month, my poetry sisters and I are doing ekphrastic poems again (poems based on a piece of art). Andi sent us a bunch of truly lovely photos she took at the Glencairn cloister, and we each picked an image to work with.

I've been doing lots of work on my picture biography of Adelaide Crapsey, who invented the cinquain, so I decided to write one about my favorite image - a column with a carving of a chicken at the top of it.

Noble
somehow, perhaps
because rendered in stone,
puff-chested, far-seeing
chicken.

And here are links to the works of my lovely poetry princesses:

Andi
Laura
Liz
Sara
Tanita
Tricia

You can reach today's Poetry Friday roundup by clicking the box below.

Current Location:our living room
Current Mood: sick
Current Music:Family Feud theme (TV)

Comments

( 23 comments — Leave a comment )

lpsalas

Dec. 2nd, 2016 02:40 am (UTC)

This is such fun, Kelly. I love cinquains and your truth about how art has a way of elevating even everyday things. Hope you're feeling better!

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kellyrfineman

Dec. 4th, 2016 08:58 pm (UTC)

Thanks - Not all better yet, alas. Here's hoping.

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raincityjane

Dec. 2nd, 2016 04:34 am (UTC)

The noble chicken!

True how even the humble chicken can become a noble creature when captured in stone!

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kellyrfineman

Dec. 4th, 2016 08:58 pm (UTC)

Re: The noble chicken!

That particular chicken doesn't look too humble - LOL!

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Sara Lewis Holmes

Dec. 2nd, 2016 01:39 pm (UTC)

"puff-chested" is the most hilarious and true depiction of a chicken. I love what you've done with so few words.

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kellyrfineman

Dec. 4th, 2016 08:59 pm (UTC)

Thanks! I read everyone else's wonderful work and thought mine a bit "slight", but there it is.

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Brenda Harsham

Dec. 2nd, 2016 02:16 pm (UTC)

bdh63@cornell.edu

Great poem and I love that the usual acanthus leaves morphed into chickens. The world would be a sadder place without eggs and chickens.

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kellyrfineman

Dec. 4th, 2016 09:00 pm (UTC)

Re: bdh63@cornell.edu

Too true. And who cares which came first?

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TS Davis

Dec. 2nd, 2016 02:57 pm (UTC)

Ah, le poulet...

These made me laugh mostly because my grandmother collected roosters EVERYWHERE and we all wondered why... because a chicken's just a chicken, right? And yet: ennobled in stone, puff-chested and showing a noble profile... yep. I smiled immediately upon reading this.

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kellyrfineman

Dec. 4th, 2016 09:00 pm (UTC)

Re: Ah, le poulet...

It sounds so much classier in French, non?

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ext_1666092

Dec. 2nd, 2016 05:34 pm (UTC)

Love that the chicken is noble "because rendered in stone". Cinquains are a fun form - I'll be interested in reading your upcoming picture book. =), Bridget

Edited at 2016-12-02 05:35 pm (UTC)

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kellyrfineman

Dec. 4th, 2016 09:01 pm (UTC)

I hope it becomes an actual book so you CAN read it - thanks for stopping by and commenting!

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Andi Sibley

Dec. 2nd, 2016 07:53 pm (UTC)

"Puff-chested, far seeing" - perfect description! I love what you've done with such a short poem, bringing out all the complexity of the symbolic carving. I wondered why a chicken was used on one of the twelve column carvings, supposed to cover symbols related to family. Then I read a couple of websites linking the rooster to ancient Christian symbols of grace, related to Peter's denial and Christ's forgiveness after the resurrection. Peter was a bit of a rooster, wasn't he?

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kellyrfineman

Dec. 4th, 2016 09:02 pm (UTC)

The history is fascinating - thanks for cluing me in!

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Linda Mitchell

Dec. 3rd, 2016 02:22 am (UTC)

lol. puff-chested....my new favorite description of some politici---er people I have heard of.
Great eye to see the chicken and even better to capture in words on the page.

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kellyrfineman

Dec. 4th, 2016 09:02 pm (UTC)

Hahaha! And thanks!

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Mary Lee Hahn

Dec. 3rd, 2016 11:50 am (UTC)

But of course I would love this. Hahn means rooster in German! I'm like Tanita's Grandmother, with a fair number of the birds looking at me from around the kitchen (both 2D and 3D, and all puff-chested). I'm not a big chest-puffer myself. I go more for the "somehow, perhaps." And I'll take the symbol of grace Andi mentions!

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kellyrfineman

Dec. 4th, 2016 09:03 pm (UTC)

I had no idea "Hahn" was rooster - interesting, since it sounds more like "hen"!

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Liz Garton Scanlon

Dec. 3rd, 2016 02:18 pm (UTC)

I laughed OUT LOUD over this, Kelly.
Noble -- and hilarious.
Thank you!

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kellyrfineman

Dec. 4th, 2016 09:03 pm (UTC)

Aw, YAY!

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Tricia Stohr-Hunt

Dec. 4th, 2016 12:44 am (UTC)

I'm so glad you wrote about one of the birds, and used the cinquain. I love how you've depicted the chicken with a bit of panache and a dose of humor. Like Liz, I laughed out loud when I read it.

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kellyrfineman

Dec. 4th, 2016 09:04 pm (UTC)

I'm so glad it made you laugh! I've learned A LOT about the cinquain, and it has made them both easier and harder to write!

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