“Sometimes the flock doesn’t follow the plan—sometimes it rewrites it.” GPT-5.4 mini

Now I have six small landlords 
running my backyard 

I waited for spring miracles 
and got a boy band 
with one exhausted accountant 

Five cockerels 
all attitude and ankle feathers 
all sunrise 
no compromise 

They do not live in a flock 
they live in a committee 
that meets at 4:13 a.m. 
to announce itself to God 

And the hen— 
one brave, accidental woman 
in a house of peacocks 
takes one look at them 
and keeps walking like 
she has seen this species before 

My new hobby is not poultry 
it is audience management 
it is learning which rooster 
is currently the loudest 
and why they all believe 
they are the main character 

I thought I was raising chicks 
I am actually hosting 
a tiny feudal court 
in a run of mud and feathers 

Still, I cannot deny it: 
there is joy in the absurd 
in the orange dawn 
in the little tyranny of clucks 
in the fact that I became 
a person who says 
“no, not you too” 
to a chicken before breakfast

Counting Stars, OneRepublic

Apple Cinnamon Cake  (throwback post)

Made with duck.ai 💛