Hope in a Stolen Cap
Bleeding gently
I ask that you consider my circumstances
and my choices
I’ve been struggling
with the decay all about
with the final pouring off of the color
to crisp underfoot
look how sadly the forest stands
in fear of the empty remains
there’s an endless effort in being
with the turn of each samed day
six feet apart
or six feet below
…
But hope in a stolen cap
has brought me here to this rooftop
As a man
I had seen them pass above each evening
on their way back to the night-pine hemlocks
dangling their spoils from a day of looting in the town
they had been familiar company to me
and I could recognize a few when they spoke
they were magnificent
and I was thrilled
when one chose me
and grabbed the cap from my head
dragging a single black claw cross my scalp
gashing red
with a scream
you may suspect panic
but calm has never cut so quickly
atop the rooftop gabled
they awaited my response
calling to me
words alight with encouragement
and I felt in myself some shift in shape
I welcomed the warmth of the
hair grown full to feathers
as my arms became the wings they had always envied
As a crow
I could see that the sadness sat
with those earthbound beasts
heavy in wanting and weight
as my fear gave way to simpler truths
gone with the fear
goes love as well
…
I hear her breathing now
troubled about the house on my whereabouts
I see her uneasy now
quickened footsteps in the dooryard below
did she hear my scream
my earthly partner
unfit for this mischief
will she know it is me
who takes away her sorrow
when I gently land on her shoulder
whisper her name
and peck her sweet pale cheek