As part of Poetry Day Ireland 2025, twelve poems have been selected following a national call out to respond to this year's theme, May Day - read The Laying Hen by Rosamund Taylor below.
The Laying Hen
No amount of tea, no dawn-pink sky,
could tempt you up a moment early.
Late already, you're on the bike,
conquering the hill in five minutes. To me,
it’s theory, what you do all day – check
the library’s roost, make sure the flock
of books is not missing a single chick?
Hours later, you freewheel home. I’m lost
in pages as usual, dinner forgotten. When
my grandmother was young, a wife who
earned was called the laying hen.
The bills, the rent, are all paid by you
and I have space to scratch in dry earth,
uprooting words, whatever they’re worth.
First published in Cat Flap Issue 4, 2024
Poetry Day Ireland 2025 will take place on Thursday, 1 May - find out more here.
