Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner
Poetry, essay, story, play
I’m not sure which way to sway.
Make it shorter, make it longer
Not sure which way will be stronger.
In the future or in the past
Which one is the best to cast?
Which to choose, I know, Wow!
I’ll make it in the present, Now!
Will it be love, or an adventure?
Just not sure which way to venture.
Pride, or greed, or virtue true
Still not sure which one to do.
And to the characters, should they be
Happy, sad, or just angry.
Should they be really good, or really bad?
Or maybe they’ll just be half mad?
Now I’m thinking as to whether
They should even be together.
Away these two could be carried
Maybe even to get married.
Is it really such a crime
If my story’s not done on time?
Should I leave my story due to time
Behind and change it all to rhyme?
I’ll start again, I’ll watch the time,
Yes, I’ll make it up in rhyme.
OK, I’m ready to start again,
Oh, my goodness, where’s my pen?
So, I look both far and near
There it is, behind my ear.
Now for my glasses a search is lead
Yes, that’s right they’re on my head.
I’m settled in, ’bout to begin
On my face there is a grin.
Getting ready, about to see…
Can’t believe, I gotta pee?
Yes, I know it’s not a crime
If this isn’t done on time.
At least I know I can’t get fired
‘Cause finally I am retired.
Finally, all settled in
Then my clock starts chiming in,
“Read the plaque upon the wall.
Where it says for one and all.
In this home there are no winners,
If they don’t get their chicken dinners.”
The clock ticks off, as if to say
Not to waste your day away.
Wasting time with indecision,
just get started in that kitchen.
I call out, “You’ll be just fine,
All I need is one more line.”
A voice calls back, “Don’t worry dear,
I’ll get myself another beer.”
I work and work on line by line
Everything seems to go just fine
And everything does seem to rhyme,
But don’t forget to watch your time.
On my leg I feel a paw, loudly now my cats do call.
“You must know that it’s a crime not to feed your cats on time.
In this home there are no winners,
if we don’t get our chicken dinners.”
When I called out one more time,
“Not to worry, you’ll be just fine,
All I need is one more line.”
Then I heard the clock strike nine.
Could someone else please be the winner?
Just this time to get their dinner?
Heaven help me if I’m wrong
To have written until dawn.
Ahh, I’m feeling a little stronger
But can I hold out for much longer?
Is it really such a crime,
Just to search for one more line?
Ohh, I know it’s getting worse,
As I search for one more verse.
I tell myself I’ll be just fine,
If I can get just one more line.
Tried to stop on the next day,
but the words won’t go away.
Haunted me, “you’ll be just fine,
All you need is one more line.”
Yes, I know it’s not a crime,
If my work’s not done on time.
But, my family’s getting thinner
Should I start their chicken dinner?
I hear a voice I know quite well,
Coming through clear as a bell.
“Eine Frau darf nicht vergessen” (a wife must not forget)
“Um zu leben, muss man essen.” (To live, one must eat.)
Kirche, Kinder, und die Küche
(church, child, and the kitchen)
Simply means to stop your bitchin’
And get back cookin’ in your kitchen.
As the plaque says on the wall,
There it states for one and all,
“In this home there are no winners,
If they don’t get their chicken dinners.”
Now they say, “She is much thinner.
She should have made their chicken dinner.”
They hear my voice come from my grave,
“What do you mean, I can’t be saved?”
Surely it is not a crime,
Not to have things done on time?
I thought that I would be just fine.
I just needed one more line.
The people call, “She is a sinner.
She should’ve made their chicken dinner.”
Cause of death was not a crime.
Death was due to too much rhyme.
They hear my voice one more time,
“Can I get off with just a fine?”
The Cat Court hollered in this time,
“Let the punishment fit the crime.”
They thought and thought and did debate
What would be a true fair fate.
“Let the punishment fit the crime.
Take away her one last line.”
“Now it’s left to her decision,
Can she truly now envision,
That her life can be just fine
Without finding one more line?”
“Or will she lead a life of crime,
Tellin’ her family they’ll be just fine
While searching for that one last line.
As her family gets much thinner
Waiting for their chicken dinner.”
As time did tell, and we all knew well,
That the writing on the wall, stated there for one and all,
“In this home there are no winners,
If they don’t get their chicken dinners.’