A Murder of Crows

 

Dated November 5, 2024

A Murder of Crows 

Waning grey, weakened light
Summoned within silence of the night
Beckoned the thousand crows

A murder in plain sight

for all to see

Coming for me

Peppered swarms in fields of white

spiralling high in first-flight

is this an omen I see tonight? 

A murder of crows

in plain sight

Tadpole commas within the trees

Landing, roosting, they scatter–they flee

Calling, squawking, did they come to see?

Did they come to see who murdered me?

An urgent cry 

A sudden scream

Life and death pull at the seams

A witness in a waterless sea

I know he saw what happened to me

Whistles the corn within the rows

On the winds, the answer blows

tossing truths to and fro

Impossible to tell what they do not know

A murder of crows

in plain sight

Coming for me

In the night 

-Jody Noëlle Doughty