Three sleek crows turn above a garden patch.
One wheels, rising to the peak of the tool shed,
While the others dive into the stalks of a batch
Of corn and peck at the silk for kernel and worm.
Aluminum pie pans clatter against the wellhead,
And a faded straw man stands above the row,
But his figure is well known to the sentry crow
Who does not even bother to raise the alarm.
Just the other side of the fence, a yard cat hides
In the ditch along side the dirt road and paws
The tall grass. The bird up yonder gives up two “Caws”
And the others take flight till the threat subsides.
The cat pretends indifference, watches a bee buzz,
Imagines he’s eating crow, but he never does.
This article appears in August 2007.
