She's Eve (a walking poem)Shrouded in black,
she hops after
the dark seeds
encased in apple flesh.
She stands and caws
one foot gripping
apple skin.
Her beak pokes,
bring up
a sweet offering.
Awkward effort
to retrieve
the pebbles
at the core.
Black tear drops
she has never shed.
by Mario Milosevic
Even inside, through the windows I hear them from trees across the road, sometimes across two roads. Lately I've heard mostly one refrain, "caw-caw-caw" but right now as I write, they repeat many, many more caws. I don't think they count but it must be a code, five caws is a different message than the usual three. I suspect the rhythm too has meaning, how quickly one follows the other, maybe even in terms of nano-seconds. In every country I've ever traveled to I've seen and heard them. Yes, this morning they are saying more than usual, I hear different tones of voice right now, different rhythm, different patterns. Morning is a busy time for crows.
Enough. You have your crows too and I presume you sometimes listen.
I was delighted yesterday to hear from Ronni Barrett of Time Goes By, click my sidebar. On Ronni's left hand sidebar in a box you will see "The Elder Story Telling Place" -- click it and you will find a short story I sent in. It's not up yet [which is to say 7:50 am EST, but will be when Ronni gets to her blog today. I think it will be there all week but if not, it will be on the sidebar of that page. The name is "Intruder". I crave readers! This is my caw-caw-caw to you to come see.
4 comments:
I will check this out for sure. Love the little poem. I have come to appreciate the black birds in my old age. Dianne
June -- read your story on Ronni's blog. Don't ever take a shower without locking your door -- otherwise you might invite a kind fat robber into your home. Fun read!
I do pay attention to the blackbirds. They do seem to travel in caravans like gypsies so I imagine they need lots of crow language skills to communicate with the clan.
Saw quite a dramatic bird encounter this afternoon. My house backs up very close to a woods. About twenty feet away, from where I was standing on my porch, I heard this horrible distress call from a bird -- looked up quickly and saw a red tail hawk that had just grasped a blue jay with his talons. The jay was struggling in the hawk's hold while jabbing it with his beak. The hawk lost its hold on the jay and both flew off in different directions. Quite a scene for me to observe -- barbara
Thanks for the story, Barbara. Poor hawk didn't get dinner but the lucky and feisty jay got away. Who wrote of nature, red in tooth and claw?
While I'm flattered you liked my poem enough to post it, it would have been nice if you had asked first. I'm not that hard to find and I would probably have agreed to the posting on the condition that you put a link to my website so if people liked the poem they could easily find more of my work.
Did you find "She's Eve" on the Journal of Mythic Arts site? If so, please pay attention to notices like the one at the bottom of that page. You are not permitted to simply repost and reprint things you like without the creator's consent. If I sound cranky, it's because I am. A little.
Also, you didn't even accurately reprint the poem. The 9th line should be "brings up" not "bring up." Not a minor point, actually, because as you have it on your post, I sound like I don't know how to write proper English.
Anyhow, my website is mariowrites.com. I also have a couple of poetry collections you or your readers might like: Animal Life and Fantasy Life.
Wishing all best to you and yours.
Mario Milosevic
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