Saint Cecilia/Chicken Head

Abstract

Saint Cecilia/Chicken Head Becca Barniskis (bio) Her story is not without beauty or merit.It is said Every day when I walk to school I gotta go past the Jenkins farm and all those chickens. she was a pious virgin who loved Godand covered her parts with coarse horsehair. They peck incessantly at the dirt my toes my hands when I try to swipe them away. When her betrothed approached she warned:“There is an angel who watches meand wards off anyone who would touch me.” I complain to my mother but she ignores me. “Whaddya talking about? Just git to school. I don’t wanna hear any more complaining.” He did not believe her so she told himto go down the Appian Way and he would surelysee the angel. Also he better get himself baptized. [End Page 69] Maybe they think my toes are worms in the warm dust of the road. Not my fault they wriggle deliciously when I walk by. Sure enough the angel appeared and her fiancéfainted, then converted. Cecilia got even holier.So holy she angered the Roman Prefect. Know what I’m gonna do? I’m gonna grab the axe from the shed. Sick of those chickens. He tried to boil her. She did not die.He tried to behead her. But her neck would not quitesever. She lived three more days, bleeding and givingaway her possessions to the poor. Anyway what do I care if the world loses a few more chickens? [End Page 70] Becca Barniskis Becca Barniskis is a poet and performer who has published a chapbook of poems, Mimi and Xavier Star in a Museum that Fits Entirely in One’s Pocket (Anomalous Press). Her poems have appeared or are forthcoming in a wide range of journals including Poetry London, Conduit, Michigan Quarterly Review, Colorado Review, Vinyl, and many others. She performs her poetry for live audiences regularly as part of the bands Downrange Telemetrics and Pancake7. Visit www.beccabarniskis.com. Copyright © 2019 University of Nebraska Press