First Rank Chicken

Kay Keenan

    never could an egg –
but would a chicken, stake a
claim to first place? Man reduced origin-
ality to – chicken – a mathematical
¿(um)certainty? ¿Qué? Quoi?
Wie bitte? I (never) ever was
wolfsähnlich, commanding, 
or scientifically outstanding (chicken);
perfectly proper processes
surrendering control to
two too human
hands. Still feel
their nerves
know more
than any
primate
thought.

The Science

Humans have survived (thus far) alongside approximately 8.7 million other animal species. Human is a 13th century word, and at the advent of taxonomy we gained the species classification homo sapiens, meaning ‘wise men’ of the order of primates (from primus, meaning first class—so called because Carl Linnaeus thought this the ‘highest’ order of animals). In his book Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst, Robert M Sapolsky rejects notions of a selfish gene, as well as an altruistic gene, choosing to conclude that "we’ve evolved to be particular ways in particular settings". Animals depend on the success of other animals, and while humans call each other chickens to suggest a lack of courage, we also tell each other not to count our chickens … , argue about whether the chicken came before the egg, and share this planet with more billions of chickens than ever, supposedly. I associate the word ‘chicken’ with failure to achieve academically, but have also used it in my poem to describe the kind of person that chooses to think they're ‘first class’ with undue certainty.

The Poet

Kay Keenan is a writer of poetry and fiction. Her work explores wild nature and the complexities of the human experience. She grew up in a rural English village, and lives in West Cumbria, close to the Lake District and the Solway Coast. Her story ‘Shoes and Trews and Shell Dust’ was shortlisted for the Bath Flash Fiction prize, and published in their anthology with one eye on the cows.

Next poem: (im)mortal by Jay Heins