Étude in the Form of a Crow
Crows punctuate my life pierce slice
swoop dive origami folded enter
my dreams disrupt subvert from within
cardinals magpies jays the whole
extended corvid clan anthracite feathers
rouge feathers blue-speckled and barred
camouflaged by pinons junipers
madronas more cousins than my wife’s
family the few I have I don’t even know
my sole aunt childless three sisters
childless only my daughter just the one
now moving her nest away to another part
of this city where I migrated west decades ago
receded diminished and will vanish
Stars of their own film noir a murder of
a mob of a chaos of cacophony of
aggravational alarm clocks set too early
strewn across the sky pointillistic contrast
with overcast creeping onshore flow
perch on trees chimneys roof tile ridges
eaves light poles powerlines gather
nonchalant on scarecrows in gardens
under the gazes of inflatable owls they
settle fret hunch huddle somber morticians
that don’t even sing just raunchy raspy
gravelly fado duende blues riffs looped
tricksters thieves remorseless voyeurs
bad luck omens shadow ninja stealth
tattoos Odin’s snitches and drones baby
desert tortoise gobblers shell crackers
squatters on dumpsters squabble over
fast food bags in the middle of the street
refuse to move for oncoming cars
until the last possible moment then
hop right back you cannot kill them
or try they remember your face and
will give you no peace after that
An avian black hole coalesces
absorbs all light they mass congeal
congregate cluster for the night among
cemetery eucalyptus torches far down-
canyon in a different drought-stricken
county in which my parents are buried
they overwhelm superstructures overhead
mesh criss-crossed limbs dangling
peeling bark pointed leaves with deckled
edges narrow desiccated daggers that
twist in the slightest breeze
Charcoal sketches kinetic sculptures
hardwired to go for the eyes blind you
steal shiny buttons coins bits of foil
your soul a surreptitious photo taken
underexposed murky dim bird-shaped
landmines define the perimeter the barbed
the chain link fringe mounds of black powder
fuses primed await a spark any spark
psychotic babble in bushes most definitely
off their meds swirl converge intercept
harry me airborne like I was a hawk
Oblique cock of head iridescent as
oil slick crude blued as a gun cunning
jet beads take sidelong measure
watch twitch ruffle worry prune twigs
with rock-paper-scissors lacquered
clacking bristled beaks hyper-alert
algorithms assimilate scavenge griefs
memories regrets process intuit
more than I presume to know they’re
laughing at me these cruelest mocking-birds
malevolent Iagos gracking not whispering
as if there were an alternative a secret
velvet VIP exit reprieve or plea bargain
commutation loophole evasion of Corvidae
justice natural law the steep decline
spiraling nosedive inevitable hard landing
how to see past make sense of it
with all those wings in the way
Jim Natal is the author of three books of lyric poems: Memory and Rain, Talking Back to the Rocks, and In the Bee Trees, as well as two collections written in contemporary haibun form – 52 Views: The Haibun Variations and Spare Room. A former NFL executive, multi-year Pushcart Prize nominee, literary presenter, and co-founder of indie publishing house Conflux Press, his work has appeared in many journals and anthologies.
