My chickens like hemp milk

I learned today

My chickens like the hemp milk too

Apparently

They cannot tell the difference

Between the creamy and organic happy cow stuff

And this watered down variation

Of my stubborn hippy inclination

They see me coming from across the yard

Oh my, I swear

They’re usually much more reserved

But they know this plastic olive dish

Gritty from the last time it repurposed

As their makeshift ice cream trough

Giddy as only hens can be

They circle round and begin to feast

Dipping in turn and then

Simultaneously

Four chicken heads submerged in ecstasy

An audible gulp as they shimmy

That liquid gold back

And down their gullets

Wagging their combs

And waddles

A treat for them

A treat for me

It’s been this way

Since I woke at eight

A warm wind on an early run

A delicious brunch

A sun bath on my stroll home

The driest January, they say,

In decades

It’s seventy here

The coldest on record over there

And in between

A kaleidoscope—

—take your pick—

Of natural disasters

And FEMA lands

And me here in the last of the afternoon heat

Crouched down on my knees

Watching the chickens feed

Who knew the end of time

Would so feel so sweet