Crows
Crows own the morning sky,
the naked treetops, too.
Clouds both amplify
and muffle their sharp-edged caws.
Below the grey they fly
on a mission to who knows where
or why.
©Mary Lee Hahn, 2022
Michelle Kogan has this week’s Poetry Friday roundup at More Art For All (I can get behind that!!).
A(nother) Year of Reading 
Marylee, your first line “Crows own the morning sky'” hooked me and the rest of your words kept reeling me in. I love your rhyme, alliteration, assonance, and consonance sounds! Well done! I know what mission the crows in my yard were on-to get the beef lard and seeds dropped on the ground from the tufted titmice, nuthatches, downy woodpeckers, chickadees, house finches, and bluebirds! Does it seem to you that crows have grown larger? It does to me, or maybe it’s just that they are so much larger than the songbirds. I love ravens, though. Their call echoes through the woods when we hike the nearby southern Adirondack Mtns. One time when we were on a summit, there was a whole family of ravens flying around and around the summit. We weren’t sure if they were showing off for us or teaching the juveniles how to fly around the mountain. It was a lovely gift especially when they called out right before we would see them as if they were saying, “Here we come, again,” 🙂
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Oops, I meant to say I liked your drawing, too. Thank you for your inspiration.
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Wonderful! I love crows, and they are ridiculously intelligent. They would appreciate these images, I think! Thanks for sharing. :0)
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“Crows own the morning sky” is such a great beginning. I can envision their blackness with the greys of a cloudy day. Thanks for sharing.
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Your drawing made me think of the artist Edward Gorey —he would’ve loved the crows and “naked treetops.”
Your poem captures crow nature well, and I think they own their space most of the time too, thanks Mary Lee!
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I love crows, their commanding and mysterious presence…thanks for this, Mary Lee! Have you done a mandala of crows?
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I wrote about our crows gathering downtown as evening comes a few weeks ago. They are fascinating creatures. I’ve read that they remember faces and if you are termed an enemy, they will warn others when you come their way. Your poem is reminiscent of Emily D’s poems, Mary Lee. It is wonderful, as is your sketch! Happy weekend!
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Mary Lee… gorgeous poem and image. I also love your “comet of crow” haiku. I had it framed and up in October! Thanks for another crow poem. I have read about them and I hear them in my yard. I’m in a writing slump at the moment, but it will surely pass.
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The crows who visit our woods definitely approve of your lovely poem. 🙂 You’ve captured their mystery and majesty perfectly. 🙂
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I’ve been loving your drawings lately and was especially happy to see one paired with a poem. As so many have commented, your opening line is wonderful.
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Mary Lee, thanks for the lovely sketch and poem. In autumn, they circled our houses on the block and cawed with delight. My granddaughter and the little grandchild next door tried to communicate with them via their little horns and toot toys. We were surprised to find the crows listening and cawing back. It was a rare treat just like your offering today.
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Mary Lee, nice one! That opening line is so compelling, as everyone is saying. Lately crows have been showing up everywhere I go. There were a few strolling around the school parking lot where I volunteer, and we exchanged a few pleasantries.
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Crows scare me (the ones in my yard are a little too brazen), but you’ve made them likable in your poem. 🙂 I love all of the “f” sounds (amplify, muffle, fly).
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Mary Lee, This poem about crows is extraordinary! I love to watch crows in our yard and at the lake. We don’t see as many as we did in suburbia, but still will see them – and the ones we see are huge! I also love that you have a drawing to go with the poem. Is it yours? A great combo! Thanks for sharing!
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morning sky and naked tree tops – such great images when paired with crows! I have to renegotiate an agreement with the local ones in our Sierra forest – their noisy gatherings are scaring away some of the critters!
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Oooh, I love both your poem and your illustration. Crows fascinate me. Love the line, “Crows own the morning sky.” With their intelligence, if they also sported opposable thumbs, I think they’d own the world.
I can hear the muffled/amplified caws, too. Beautifully conjured.
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You have perfectly captured the mood of a murder of crows in both your words and art! Love it.
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Mary Lee, the pauses in this poem are ringing in my ear. I love the way “amplify” hangs in the air, like the crows.
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