Chicken Feet: Poems
Seasoned writer and poet Brian Kenneth Swain knows that some seeds take longer to germinate than others.
After entering a new phase of life several years ago, Swain began writing free verse that not only explored the meaning in real-life experiences, but also in the wacky and unorthodox. Swain shares truths he has stumbled upon during a unique journey from yesterday to now. In his third compilation of poetry, Swain reflects on a wide range of topics that include nature’s beauty and creatures, a confusing SAT question, the day in the life of a stone mason, the sweetness of watermelon pickles, and the morning after a party, hoping his verse ultimately sparks a younger generation to enthusiastically embrace imagery, inspiration, and lyricism. Chicken Feet shares a compilation of free verse by a seasoned poet whose observations elegantly reflect on the ever-changing world around him.
Chicken Feet - Excerpt
Something New
Lester buys chicken feet on a stick
at Wing Fat’s down on Mott Street.
He does not know why.
He’s not even sure
What you do with a chicken foot.
It’s just that on this particular Saturday
he awoke realizing
he didn’t want to die
never having bought
chicken feet.
He suspects they are meant
to be eaten,
seeing as how they are sold
in Chinese food stores.
But he does not know how
and he is afraid to ask.
So he carries them back home
on the Number Four train,
climbs to his third-floor walk-up
on Amsterdam and 119th,
and places the chicken feet
in a green crystal vase
with half a dozen daisies
and a handful of baby’s breath.
Then he smiles
as he realizes
he has just done something
never done before
by anyone
ever.