Chicken Little

Publication Instance Details #1941

Publication Overview

Translation	Is Multilingual	Explicit Irish Context?	Ekphrasis	Has Paratext?	Reference to News, Media or Technology
No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes

Details

Human Rights Issues	HR & Weapons of Mass Destruction (incl. nuclear) Poverty/Deprivation/Lack of Sustenance
Languages	Irish
Genre	Short Lyric
Medium	Print Collection
Paratext Text	''Tá an spéir ag titim'' - nathán as scéal do pháistí
Notes	This poem's title is based off the children's book (and later Disney film, 'Chicken Little'), in which the main character feared that the sky was going to fall in. The poem mentions the technological superiority and progress of the United States: the moon landings, arms race, and Alamagordo, where the Trinity nuclear tests took place in 1945 (noted is also the Native American name for the place: 'the desert of death'). The poem draws comparisons between the starving thousands, begging for a mere bowl of rice, and the the astronomical power of the rockets stockpiled by world powers - what are humanity's priorities? The poem ends with a sense of doom - the threat of the sky (i.e. nuclear bombs) falling upon us.