Finding Use for Gravel

Chickens eat gravel,

not to taste the place

that they will never leave,

but to make up for bones

their bodies don’t have.

It is their way of saying

I will crush this part of me

that is not a part of me

with parts that are now

parts of me, pardon me

while I eat stones for this.

When white stones are

crushed, they form shell.

It is the chickens’ way

to say use, and reuse.