Supermarket labels say
high welfare
how they pay
the chickens
often upside down
crammed in cages
I am no fan
of lying adverts
chickens who
lay upside down
thats what they do
moulting feathers
breathing badly
thrown together
always sadly
suffering
it’s what they do
pinched and squashed
all this is true
higher welfare
makes us feel they were kind to chickens
their life through
somehow appealing
for us to buy
a poor dead bird
who of course did die
tortured and battered
uncared for she
suffered every hour it’s true.
Rex Tyler is a Poet, Campaigner, former owner of an organic shop of 30 years, and Public Speaker living in Berkhamsted, UK.