crows

in the park
four crows eating
at the picnic table

UPDATE:  This has become a collaborative poem dance!  I am pulling these up from the comments; anyone who would like to participate, please do, and I'll bring yours up, too.

outside the window
of my third-floor office
crows shriek and gurgle

       Patia at montana mUsIngs


Crows screech, "We're all that!"
The Magpies beg to differ,
"Are you shiny blue?"

      Wulfgar at A Chicken Is Not Pillage


four eggs, separated -
even before breakfast
eating crow

      Deborah at AuthorsDen


field ridges frozen -
a crow scrapes sound
from a crack in the sky

      Sara


hard wind
the shadow of a crow
still beside mine

      Norman at Xaiku


on the snowbank by the road
a calligraphy of crows
poem to the coming night

      Cindy


flat grey sky
calligraphy
of crows

      SB


clever and dark winged
trickster with much
within to crow about

      Morgan at Norsehorse's Home Turf


A murder of crows.
Guilty as charged.
A crime of passion...
that they could not foresee.
But now it is done,
and the crows know.
Their time will come.

      Big Sky Dave at Big Sky Dave


Two crows eating at the picnic table
One named Cain and one named Able
This table's mine said Cain
No it's not said Able
I can kill you said Cain
But you won't said Able
Oh yes I will said Cain,
Remember the Bible fable
You mean when Cain killed Abel?
Haha but my name is Able
said Able.

      Natalie at BLAUGUSTINE


In the last moment,
as the final breath was drawing nearer
I saw an angel flying with a crow
Looking for those who are near
To beckon them with the release of death
to take their souls back home.

      Jen at [para]Bellum.[net]

   

on the hillside
over the coulee
an ancient snag of a tree.

wizened branches dotted
with a flock of starlings --
tiny, black.

on the highest branches
two giant elders
not crows -- ravens.

       Patia at montana mUsIngs


mist haze-
a crow cleans its beak
on a rooftop aerial

a hooded crow
pecks just outside
the penalty area

rooftop verandah -
a crow's drawn out cry
above the pizzaria

powdered snow -
a crow's eyes above
the no parking sign

floating snowflakes -
the triple caw of a crow
within the tree

      Alan Summers at FRONT ROOM


The crow extends it wings too fair
But misses the currents that maintains its air
Knowing that lifes a fragile thing
Meets with others to deaden the pain.

      Sarpy Sam at Thoughts from the Middle of Nowhere


she waits
for her lover
a crow alights
on her shoulder
to pick at the carcass
of what was once her
bleeding heart
and still
she waits

      Pandora at Terrestrial Ball


winter poplar
buds crawk open
into crows

*****

a knotted line,
knuckled black leather legs
-- silhouetted twigs
regular Mr. Crow and his
crow knees gathered,
edging the sky

       Pearl at Page Half-Full


playful dogs -
the strident caw
of a nesting crow

       Laryalee at Soft Strokes


Black crow rest against
the maple’s red buds,
resting against the white sky.

The plane’s white exhaust
twists into clouds of many.

A foot is shifted,
falling snow turns
into a white waterfall.

Widening, the blue sky
adds more sun for the day’s light.

All this in five minutes.

       Cathy at The Quiet One


         *Reconnaissance*

The ravens come to feast upon the deer.
Their talons are too dull to tear like claws.
They smartly team with wolves, as hunting peers
And point the way to road kill with their caws.

These creatures love to play, nurse others' chicks,
Do barrel-rolls and bathe collectively,
Use rocks for self-defense and play with sticks
And flying upside down proclaim they're free.

But still, to man, an animal can't feel --
We daren't believe they love or hurt or think.
We cage them all in labs and farms concealed:
The human 'masters' cannot face the stink.

Our bankrupt, separate culture's madness reigns.
We think. Ergo we end the world, /with brains/.

       Dave at how to save the world


Raven

       SB


a sparrow
chases a crow away --
paternity

       David


Work

The mind bunches its black shoulders
and flaps free of the body.
How serious the mind is!
Tilting its glossed head.
Marching stiff-legged in ditches.

       Erin Noteboom at Vivid
       Work is from Book of Hours


he was not
interested
in crows
family corvidae
he had never been
would not
write a poem
about them ever
and sat
in his lounger
in his garden
and woke up
to find himself
surrounded by
an ever thickening
hungrily closing in
ring of black crows
sharp beaked crows
nasty ravens, carrions,rooks
and smelly tacky jackdaws
he suddenly frantically
changed his mind
and then inspired
grabbing paper
seizing pen wrote
to a satisfied cawing
and wing flapping.

       Patrick McManus


Blacks cats
turn into crows,
who scamper into
the morning sky.

       Cathy at The Quiet One

CROWS.

Awakened to the sound of crows
Caparisoned in feathers,
Iridescent, black and sleek,
Rapping at their reflections in my window,
With their insolent beaks.
Each crow it seems a strutting villain,
Straight from Shakespeare,in their
black stockinged leg,
A Richard King, on little princes feasting,
Mere babes too young,
  to fall from the nest, or beg
For Mercy!  For Merccyyy!!

Yeah each crow becomes Macbeth
when he clears his throat to speak,
Or nonchalantly cleans on bloodied wing
the daggered beak.
Or holds in the arrogant, tilted head held dreaming,
The dark sardonic eye, that dreaming seems to say,
  that schemeing seems to say,
"Oh How I Wish the Human Race
  Had but single face,
So that I might spit in it,
Once and for all,
  To show my complete,
    and utter disgust,
       with the whole,
                  damn,
                     show.."
and screaming they fly flapping,away.
Crows! How they Crow!

-Guy FreeMarijuana. [Copyright2003]

I Dream

I dream I am an eagle
A symbol of
Power, strength and beauty
Envied by all

I dream I am a parrot
A clown
In vibrant colours
Loved by all

I dream I am an owl
A silent night hunter
With bright yellow eyes
Unseen by all

I dream I am a snake
A symbol of
The devil
Feared by all

Awake now
I am but a Crow
A symbol of
Witchcraft and spells
Condemned by all

Open your mind
Condemn me not
Because my feathers black
My body sleek
My eyes white, piercing
My cry, a sound you do not like

Open your mind
And understand what I am
I am your garbage truck
You leave such a mess
Rubbish in the parks, roads
Almost everywhere

Open your mind
You may yet respect me
For if I were not here
Your diseases spread everywhere
So next time you see me in the Park
Ask, is that my rubbish
I left behind

Open your mind
When you condemn me
You condemn yourself

Trixie Benbrook [Copyright 2002]

 

black shape on white snow

fathomless as a deep hole

until the crow caws

Jacquie at wild ink

 

The crow
hopping with hunger
three fingers wrapped around
another's
as he leads to the nest.

Arkava Das at sciowithbrio

 

...we do not see
what we do not eat
can I have a bite then
of your tatoo

         my own ravens love for me

Dale
   

 

Cool flying crow from How To Save The World, who found it at Boomer Cafe.

More about crows.

Comments

[SB]

Ya'know, if I'd tried to do this, it wouldn't have worked.

My favorite post ever.

[David]

a sparrow
chases a crow away --
paternity

[Erin]

Wow, SB, great project. Since you ask, my one and only crow poem (odd, of the hundreds of bird poems, only one crow): hour 2, "Work," from "Book of Hours."

Work

The mind bunches its black shoulders
and flaps free of the body.
How serious the mind is!
Tilting its glossed head.
Marching stiff-legged in ditches.

[Erin]

I guess I should add, the rest of the Book of Hours is here: http://www.vividpieces.net/2003/06/21-book_of_ho.shtml

[Cathy]

Oh Good!! You got the poem !!!

[Guy FreeMarijuana]

CROWS.

Awakened to the sound of crows
Caparisoned in feathers,
Iridescent, black and sleek,
Rapping at their reflections in my window,
With their insolent beaks.
Each crow it seems a strutting villain,
Straight from Shakespeare,in their
black stockinged leg,
A Richard King, on little princes feasting,
Mere babes too young,
to fall from the nest, or beg
For Mercy! For Merccyyy!!

Yeah each crow becomes Macbeth
when he clears his throat to speak,
Or nonchalantly cleans on bloodied wing
the daggered beak.
Or holds in the arrogant, tilted head held dreaming,
The dark sardonic eye, that dreaming seems to say,
that schemeing seems to say,
"Oh How I Wish the Human Race
Had but single face,
So that I might spit in it,
Once and for all,
To show my complete,
and utter disgust,
with the whole,
damn,
show.."
and screaming they fly flapping,away.
Crows! How they Crow!

-Guy FreeMarijuana.Copyright2003

[Trixie the Crow Lady]

I Dream

I dream I am an eagle
A symbol of
Power, strength and beauty
Envied by all

I dream I am a parrot
A clown
In vibrant colours
Loved by all

I dream I am an owl
A silent night hunter
With bright yellow eyes
Unseen by all

I dream I am a snake
A symbol of
The devil
Feared by all

Awake now
I am but a Crow
A symbol of
Witchcraft and spells
Condemned by all

Open your mind
Condemn me not
Because my feathers black
My body sleek
My eyes white, piercing
My cry, a sound you do not like

Open your mind
And understand what I am
I am your garbage truck
You leave such a mess
Rubbish in the parks, roads
Almost everywhere

Open your mind
You may yet respect me
For if I were not here
Your diseases spread everywhere
So next time you see me in the Park
Ask, is that my rubbish
I left behind

Open your mind
When you condemn me
You condemn yourself

Trixie Benbrook Copyright 2002

EDITED by SB -- The commenter did not leave an email address; if it is the artist, I would like permission to post a copy of the image here.

Original miniature painting of crow for sale

or if that doesn’t work for some reason you can past this into your browser’s address window:

http://cgi.ebay.ca/Baby-Crow-atc-aceo-zne-collage-paint-pencil-ink-kv_W0QQitemZ7345420614QQcategoryZ20158QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem#ebayphotohosting

[Jacquie]

I love the Crow Dance! This is the section of your blog that I came across when I googled "crows." It was very nice of you to check out my site and post a link to my books (in your section where people introduce themselves). I've included the URL to a recent blog post about the strange appearance of 100s of crows at my daughter's school. Here's a crow haiku of mine (may the dance continue!):

black shape on white snow

fathomless as a deep hole

until the crow caws

[Arkava Das]

The crow
hopping with hunger
three fingers wrapped around
another's
as he leads to the nest.

[Dale]

...we do not see
what we do not eat
can I have a bite then
of your tatoo

my own ravens love for me