Author’s Note

This poem started with one of those wonderfully ridiculous thoughts that refuses to leave.

What if I took the opening joke from an old cartoon and treated it completely seriously?

A chicken. A cow. A father who proudly accepts both without ever asking for an explanation.

The image made me laugh, but as I kept writing, I realized the joke was quietly carrying something much larger.

So much of life is spent convincing people that difference is something to overcome. We flatten ourselves to fit expectations, compare our gifts to someone else’s, or assume that being different somehow means being less.
Nature has never worked that way.

A forest isn’t strong because every tree is identical. An orchestra doesn’t create harmony by playing the same note. Communities become richer because different people bring different strengths, experiences, perspectives, and ways of seeing the world.

That’s what this poem slowly became.

The cartoon setup stayed, because I think humor can open a door that seriousness sometimes cannot.

Once the reader laughs, they’re already listening.

And maybe they’ll leave remembering something simple:

You don’t have to become someone else to have value.

Sometimes the thing that makes you different is exactly what the world needs.

— Rowan Evans

Difference Is How We Grow
Poetry by Rowan Evans

“Don’t have a cow,” they said—
why, my mama did?
You see—

Mama had a chicken.
Mama had a cow.
Dad was proud;
he didn’t care how.

And I know—
that may sound absurd to you,
but it’s a setup for a simple truth.

There is strength in our differences—
so let us try and identify
what our difference is.

Difference is not a warning sign—
it’s a spark.

A start.

A door kicked open
to a room you didn’t know you needed.

You see—
my family tree
is less a tree
and more a barnyard free‑for‑all.

Feathers in the branches,
hoofprints on the roots,
and me somewhere in the middle
trying to make sense of it all.

But difference is not disorder—
it’s the rhythm of the world
learning to harmonize.

So what makes you different—
what is your strength?

A cow gives milk,
a chicken gives eggs—
neither tries to be the other,
yet breakfast would be poorer
without both.

So what do you bring to the table—
that no one else can,
and why hide it?

Because sameness is a field gone fallow,
but difference—
difference is how we grow.

Journey into the Hexverse…

[Tots, Rocks and All]
What begins as a surreal collection of tater tots, rocks, comic book references, and runaway thoughts slowly reveals something much quieter: a poem about creativity, vulnerability, and the simple hope of finding someone willing to hold your heart.

[Off Leash Thought]
A reflective free verse poem exploring the mind as a living, wandering force—unpredictable, creative, and sometimes chaotic—through the metaphor of a dog off leash. It embraces mental drift not as a flaw, but as a natural part of creative thought and self-awareness.

[Monster Theology]
What if the monsters under the bed weren’t monsters at all? Monster Theology explores difference, belonging, and the human tendency to fear what we don’t understand through a conversation with the creatures we’ve spent our lives imagining.

[Raccoons in Silk Pajamas]
What begins with judgmental Space Chickens quickly spirals into camels in parked cars, elephants in jam jars, raccoons in silk pajamas, and astronauts in the ocean. A playful absurdist poem about language, imagination, and what happens when you stop trying to control where the words go.

[The Answer Is (Yes)]
What kind of writer am I? Mythmaker, confessor, comedian, philosopher, dream-architect, romantic, storyteller, and diss-poet. This self-reflective poem explores the impossibility of fitting creativity into a single category—and embraces every version of the truth a pen can touch.

If you’re interested in more poetry, you can find it here → [The Library of Ashes]