Portion of Chicken - Easy on the Pox

by Shelley White

Do you feel hot and grouchy?
What are those spots? A rash?
It's not like you to push away
Your sausages and mash.

There are red spots on your tummy
And they've spread across your chest
It's not because they made you wear
That tickly woolly vest.

Most children catch this illness
They're usually under ten
Its proper name is 'Chickenpox'
Yes, 'chicken', as in 'hen'!

It doesn't mean you'll start to cluck
Or grow some fluffy feathers
It doesn't mean you'll scratch for grain
In the farmyard in all weathers.

You won't get boiled for chicken soup
Or spiced for vindaloo
You won't be sliced with mushrooms
Or end up in a stew.

You won't start feeling broody
Or want to lay brown eggs
You won't be put in a picnic
'Cause you've not got chicken legs.

They won't fry you and serve you up
In a bucket with some chips
Nor will you start to grow a beak
Instead of your two lips.

You won't go acting chicken
'Cause the cockerel's been loosed
You won't be scared and run away
And then come home to roost.

The virus causing chickenpox
Is 'zoster varicella'
You just take a deep breath in -
It's a respiratory tract dweller!

Those spots have different stages
And tend to come in crops
They blister, crust, then heal -
You get a few or you get lots.

They can be bloomin' itchy
So slap on calamine
In two days they'll scab over,
Dry up and you'll feel fine.

But please try not to scratch them
And be sure to wash your hands
'Cause they could get infected
Or scar when some dirt lands.

Your mum will give you pain relief
If there's an aching in your head
Make sure that you have lots to drink
No need to go to bed.

You'll get to stay off school a while
And play with all your toys
Then after no more than five days
You'll rejoin the girls and boys.

In ten per cent of cases
You don't know that you've got it
The symptoms are so mild
That a doctor may not spot it.

I hope this verse of chicks and zits
Won't stop you eating chicken
That source of protein's good for you
Now remember, no more pickin'!