Levi Bentley
every several months we take
hens too old to lay
extra adolescent roosters
pack them in wire cages and
hang them upside down in cones
mounted to hold wings down
bodies still the blood rushing
to tiny brains induces sedation
the knife moves through the neck
behind the carotid then out
the body thrashes it drains
scalding water takes the carcass
one minute loosens the feathers
two at a time into the plucker's
rubber nubs three cleaver strikes
separate head and feet followed by
an incision thrust a hand into the
cavity to pull intestines free
a textile artist from santa fe
comes up the ojo de vaca with
knives to break them down he
says a regular sunday in ghana
shows us his mother taught him
one stroke separates each quarter
see the joints let go here
weighed and in bags each bird
labeled with its weight
settled in a stack
growing hard in one
of several freezers.