In An Eggshell

by 
Charlotte McCoy

We were gifted some chickens

Shaken up by The Quake.

We wanted some eggs

And they needed a break.

We made them a coop

And lined it with straw.

It had a wee perch

And a welcoming door.

The weeks went by,

We waited and waited,

But rarely an egg

We felt we'd been cheated.

We checked and we checked

in the comfortable coop.

They pecked and they pecked

But they never bore fruit.

Then some months later

While out in the garden

A major discovery

Granted them Pardon.

A whole stash of treasure

Was stored in the hedge!

Our chickens had laid us

A bounty of eggs!

We said they were no good

But we were so wrong

They were grateful for refuge

And laid all along.

Which just goes to show

Nothing runs by the book

The answer is out there

You just have to look.