I was just a chicken
But not anymore
For that kind of bird
I’ve come to deplore.

I advanced to a chickle
Which helped me begin
At least I was better
Than the chicken I’d been.

Then came the cheagle
I was well on my way
Of becoming a bird
I could live with some day.

Now I can see
As I’m changing my life
When I overcome weakness
I overcome strife.

A chicken, a chickle, a cheagle
One step at a time
I find in my life
I’m beginning to climb.

The goal that I’ve set
Is one that is regal
For I’m raising the bar
And becoming an Eagle.

Dennis Brown

[This poem appears on the wall of the Wasatch chapel in the Utah State Prison, along with pencil drawings of a chicken, a chickle, a cheagle, and an eagle.]