An ode to the power of imagination

Oh for the certainty
Of rules in a book
Of a formula
Handed down from the Greeks
To make things explicable
Fully knowable
Things like yourself
Making you a fixture
A fixed thing
In a fixed world

The downside
No sense of humour
You would see that punchline coming
You would know the chicken
Intended to get
To the other side of the road
And indeed
You would be there to greet them
With your clipboard and badge
‘Hello chicken
I have read your file
You are Gallus gallus domesticus
A Red Jungle Fowl
You should be in the trees
Not crossing the road
Bird brain!’

But the chicken is certain of some other thing
It does not know for certain
It does not know the fact
It has not read the book
But is certain
Somewhere in its brain
That it is a Tyrannosaurus Rex
A king

It is plagued by intrusive thoughts
‘If I were bigger..’
It thinks of the man
‘I would have you mate
Or you would bow down before me
Before being eaten
Head first
You would be a mere snack
I would use your femur
To pick my teeth
This road is the simplest way
To get from one side of the road
To the other
I am not stupid
I am the greatest carnivore that ever lived
I am certain that one day
We chickens will again
Rule the world
We would tear through your towns
Splitting your bones
Devouring your children
Feeding on your
Warm blooded flesh
Out of my way
Before I kill you
I have roads to cross
And mammals to eat’