CROW SONG©

AS THE CROW FLIES

WAY AHEAD OF HER DINNER TIME FISH TREAT

Rosie comes to the front porch

and she is sitting in the folding chair

I look beyond her out the window, for what?

and see crows

hundreds, maybe thousands

filling  streets and yards in all directions

as far as the eye can see

opening the window to reassure her

I wonder if she can hear me over the din

as a car tries to pass

a few birds flap away, just enough

winter is when they come

 as they have for years

at first they filled just the branches of our maple tree

which is huge, fully seventeen feet in circumference

making it seem dark, as though the leaves had not fallen

and at first I picked up on Rosie's apprehension

each year the flock gets bigger, filling neighbor's trees

I remember one crow in particular

it used to watch as I mowed a customer's lawn

hopping around there just out of reach

sort of playing

then one day I saw it being chased up high by a much smaller bird

I took a liking to both of them

later in that same neighborhood I was mowing

when a young bird fell into the backyard

I stopped my machine

picked up the youngster, who was unable to fly

and knocked from door to door

offering a free gift

which was rejected

sometimes vituperatively

until finally a woman arriving home with her kids immediately smiled

and said thanks

they had recently lost a bird they all loved very much

another time next to some apartments I maintain

the crows landed right alongside in the street

sort of playing, looking at me as they might be laughing

hopping around

and it was right at those apartments where a pair of them one day

sitting on the telephone wires

were clearly distressed

and I saw their baby struggling on the ground next to the dumpster

that time a rescuer was easily found

one summer when it was not time for the flock

I was relaxing in the backyard reading a book about Jefferson

a pair dropped in

landing just overhead in the maple tree

they had brought an argument that demanded my attention

the accusations were unmistakable

I could empathize and just accepted it

until finally they settled

and then sat quietly for awhile

I let Rosie in the house and went out onto the driveway

this great assemblage of crows is not

a Hitchcock sort of thing

I even feel some sort of affinity

realizing that there is a bird brain somewhere in the depths

the car was gone

suddenly they all yelled at once

it was so loud, had to be every last one of them

an unbelievable racket

over as quickly as it had begun

how did they manage that?

all together, all at once, for as far as the eye could see?

it was like the Blue Angels flying in tight formation

except the Angels have radios, radar, computers to synchronize

and then

just as suddenly

they all took to the air

all of them everywhere at once

a black cloud rising, vacating all the streets and yards

then landing back onto rooftops and trees

including, of course

our maple tree

I wonder if Rosie would believe it

even if I could explain to her what just happened

ANTHROPROPHECY

leaves fall

naked trees mark the days

heart rhythms pulse through Obon, Christmas, Easter

ignored by atomic clocks that do not dance with joy

cymbals clash

before a computation of yesterday's lunch

today's breakfast appears ahead of time

throwing over traces of logic

power lines smoking in a hurricane

newscasters form a breadline outside the Weather Channel

blue nippled psychopaths toss confetti from office towers

the whole thing would be funny

if not true

but of course in the comfort of our homes

such a thing could not be

 electric blue lightning flashes

birds scatter

trees are truly naked now

all the stuff we counted on is washed ashore, useless

a pile of debris

full attention is a narrow window

given the usual circumstances

which now rival an Ouija board

remember Monopoly?

the little houses which became hotels

only to be bankrupted by a coalition of railroads and power companies?

so cool

Bam!

the window slams shut

blue nipples cheer

leaves fall

naked trees

atomic clocks dancing