What does the speaker's choice of animal reveal about her attitude toward her situation?

Question

what does it reveal about her? below is the poem, thank you for your help, I really appreciate it.

Here comes another alpha male,
and all the other alphas
are snorting and pawing,
kicking up puffs of acrid dust

while the silly little hens
clatter back and forth
on quivering claws and raise
a titter about the fuss.

Here comes another alpha male-
a man's man, a dealmaker,
holds tanks of liquor,
charms them pantsless at lunch:

I never been sicker.
Do I have to stare into his eyes
and sympathize ? If I want my job
I do. Well I think I'm through

with the working world,
through with warming eggs
and being Zenlike in my detachment
from all things Ego.

I'd like to go
somewhere else entirely,
and I don't mean
Europe.

Answer 1

Great poem. Who wrote this, I've never come across it before. The person who penned this, most likely a female, is tired of all the ***-kissing and yes-man bull-**** that she has to endure day-in and day-out in the work place in order to survive. Survival here is keeping her job.

Actually, the meaning of this poem is going beyond office politics and is referring to overt sexual harassment. Observe the language of this poem that clearly points to victimization and sexual harassment: alpha-male, silly little hens, a man's man, charms them pantless at lunch, i've never been sicker, if I want my job, and detachment from all things ego.

There's no doubt about it, sexual harassment is still alive and well. Fortunately, if it is brought out into the light, it will not tolerated in this day and age.

And one more point if I may, although men are very seldom the victims of overt sexual harassment, there are more and more female "alpha-males" these days who compete with other male and female "alpha-males" for "top-dog" in the work place. Survival for me, a male, is a matter of wearing this world as a "loose garment" and keeping my interior life far, far away from the "dog-eat-dog" mentality of the work place.

Answer 2

I'm assuming this is a homework assignment, so I'm not going to give you the answer, but I'm going to give you some hints:

What is notable about wolves as compared to other canines, in terms of their social units? What about hens? You know the phrase, "Nobody here but us chickens," right? Or, men calling women "chicks"? In terms of the power relations between wolves and chickens, where do the different sides stand? What sex is the chicken, and what sex is the wolf? How do these power dynamics transfer in to the world of men and women? These questions are easy to answer, and once you do, you'll find the answer to your question.