Welcome to blackhen, a personal website with links to my poetry, essays, short fiction, photos and montages, with occasional guest appearances by friends, family and assorted birds.

blackhen was born after a chicken named Sophie wandered into our bedroom and laid an egg, an act that surprised her as well as my husband and me.  Later, blackhen became associated with Spike, a blind-in-one-eye runt of chicken, who worked her way into our house, roosted for nine years in the garage, and now hangs with the rest of the flock in a large yard in western Wyoming--because she felt the need.  As a result, blackhen also features appearances by chickens and offers a mostly-live chickencam video of the "girls."