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The chickens

are circling and

blotting out the   

day. The sun is   

bright, but the   

chickens are in   

the way. Yes,

the sky is dark

with chickens,   

dense with them.

They turn and   

then they turn   

again. These   

are the chickens

you let loose

one at a time

and small—

various breeds.

Now they have   

come home

to roost—all

the same kind

at the same speed.

Kay Ryan, “Home to Roost” from The Niagara River. Copyright © 2005 by Kay Ryan. Reprinted with the permission of Grove/Atlantic, Inc. All rights reserved. Caution: Users are warned that this work is protected under copyright laws and downloading is strictly prohibited. The right to reproduce or transfer the work via any medium must be secured with Grove/Atlantic, Inc.

Source: Poetry (May 2003).

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MORE FROM THIS ISSUE

This poem originally appeared in the May 2003 issue of Poetry magazine

View this poem in its original format

• Actaeon
  by A. E. Stallings
• Flight
  by John Kinsella
• Which One
  by Maxine W. Kumin

• May 2003 Table of Contents
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More about this poem

Biography

Born in California in 1945 and acknowledged as one of the most original voices in the contemporary landscape, Kay Ryan is the author of several books of poetry, including Flamingo Watching (2006), The Niagara River (2005), and Say Uncle (2000). Her book The Best of It: New and Selected Poems (2010) won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. Ryan's tightly compressed, rhythmically dense poetry is often compared to that of Emily . . .

Continue reading this biography

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Poems by Kay Ryan

• A Ball Rolls on a Point
• A Certain Kind of Eden
• A Hundred Bolts of Satin
• Album
• All You Did

• More poems by Kay Ryan (38 poems)
  • Atlas
  • Bait Goat
  • Blandeur
  • Blast
  • Carrying a Ladder
  • Cloud
  • Crocodile Tears
  • Crown
  • Cut Out For It
  • Felix Crow
  • Flamingo Watching
  • He Lit a Fire with Icicles
  • Houdini
  • Linens
  • Miser Time
  • New Rooms
  • Paired Things
  • Party Ship
  • Pinhole
  • Repetition
  • Repulsive Theory
  • Salvage
  • Sharks' Teeth
  • Soft
  • Still Start
  • Surfaces
  • Tenderness and Rot
  • The Fabric of Life
  • The Late Worm
  • The Obsoletion of a Language
  • The Pieces That Fall To Earth
  • Thin
  • Turtle

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Poem Categorization

SUBJECT Living, Social Commentaries, Life Choices

POET’S REGION U.S., Western

If you disagree with this poem's categorization, make a suggestion.

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Video

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Articles

• Animal Magic by Aidin Vaziri
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Events

• Elizabeth Alexander, Billy Collins, Sandra Cisneros, Robert Hass, Edward Hirsch, and Kay Ryan | In Conversation with Jeffrey Brown of the PBS NewsHour
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• Poetry & Music: "100th Anniversary Garland" of Poetry Magazine Selections

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