“It’s just a damn chicken,” we said

A rooster to be more specific

But she was fascinated by its’ coloring

as it scratched and strutted

in the autumn ground cover

as chickens will invariably do

 

She took the photo anyway

and told us the story of this honorable bird

“He’s the mayor of Occidental.

They vote for him every year.”

Overqualified, as the locals like to say

in our favorite tiny California town

 

Her painting, from the picture she took,

probably looks simple to most

but there is something more to it

when you look a little closer

as it hangs on the wall

 

Brush strokes applied

with an almost tangible joy

like the paint was happy to be there

 

The painting was never about

His Honor, the rooster, at all

It was about winter vacations

on the northern coast

 

Rain coming down sideways

and coffee by the fire

as the storm raged in from the sea

And telling that story

about the mayor with golden feathers

 

(Artwork by Elsa Inglis-McPeek)