Three Poems
A Conference of Crows
It is Nature’s charcoal sketch of a bird.
Although it sports no colourful plumage,
has a raucous cry, dines on garbage and makes
a picnic out of a roadside carcass, the bold
intelligent, clever crow is worthy of great respect
for having flourished despite human efforts
to decimate its numbers. Like the House Sparrow
the Common Crow is everywhere – along coastlines,
on mountain tops, in deserts and even in the arctic regions.
Possessing an uncanny talent to adapt to any habitat
the reputation it has earned is decidedly mixed:
glorified as a trickster in one place, the all-black Raven
is feared elsewhere as a bird of ill-omen. If a crow caws
insistently on your window sill or balcony, you can prepare
for the arrival of a guest. For the mockers of superstitions
it is just a spoiler of sleep. Like the parrot, the crow
is an impressive mimic able to whine like a dog, squawk
like a hen or cry like a baby. It shows its playful side
sliding down a slippery surface or harassing a flock
of gulls. It struts like a klutz fancying it can waltz.
Like a monkey, it watches for an opportune moment
to steal scraps from campers. Crows gather
in the hundreds to hold noisy rallies. A congregation
raises a parliamentary din, now recognised as
a murder of crows. Yet, this pragmatic, even
opportunistic bird has an almost sacred personal ethic:
crows maintain loyal, lifelong pair bonds, enduring
food scarcity and harsh weather to raise their young.
They live in close domestic proximity to us, but wary
of human intentions, they will not befriend us.
Because their ties with us are ageless, they let us
eavesdrop on their conference, so we may learn
to heed the call of the crow.
Heart’s Beast: New and Selected Poems is published by Copper Coin Publishing (India, 2017).
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