Henrietta

Our cousins invited us out to the country
To stay for a while at their farm
They showed us the garden, the horses and cows
And the chickens who lived by the barn
Cousin Ales Earle was funny and sweet
She said all the animals have names
So she introduced us to some her friends
Henrietta, Alexandra and James

Now Aunt Mary Jane cooked us wonderful meals
And we never left food on the plate
And the chicken one night was especially fine,
Till Ales Earle said Mmm! Henrietta tastes great
I looked on my plate at my piece of Henrietta
And somehow I couldn't go on
I remembered her clucking and pecking away
And now Henrietta was gone
Well, almost gone

I sat there quite still with my fork in the air
These thoughts running all through my head
And I thought to myself I ought to enjoy her
Now that she's already dead
So I dug in my fork and I ate every morsel
And I picked all the meat off the bone
But after the meal I insisted she be buried
And we made her a little tombstone

As we all stood around her small little grave
I decided to say a few words
I said, If we eat meat, we should pay our respects
So thank you, Henrietta, for being such a tasty bird