Chicken Poem by Ravi Kopra

You'd not eat
the chickens we raised.
You said they were
like your pets.

But when a mountain
cat nearly killed our hen,
dad wringed its neck fast
and you made the chicken curry.

I refused to eat it
despite your implorations.
I would not say a single word.
You still wanted to know why.

I opened my mouth and said:
Is the pet a pet only when alive?
I waited for the answer. You did not
look into my eyes and said nothing.