Seven Crows

Written By: John Grey

Seven crows on a tree branch,

seven monks with keen eyes and bowed heads,

seven undertakers in wind-blown black coats.

They’re here in the winter

abandon the forests and fields for the roadways,

rejoice in the predation of speeding cars and trucks,

the fresh meat splattered or thumped sideways,

be it squirrel or racoon or possum or deer.

Seven crows are no sweet-sounding choir.

Theirs is a caw, deep and unnerving,

an avian dirge for a cold pale-lit day. 

They drop down like dark rain,

form a ring round a carcass.

Seven crows at a roadside,

seven monks prayer-deep in blood,

seven undertakers feasting and burying. 

John Grey is an Australian poet, US resident, recently published in Midnight Mind, Novus and Abbey. Latest books, “Bittersweet”, “Subject Matters” and “Between Two Fires” are available through Amazon. Work upcoming in Alchemy, Touchstone and Willow Review.