The Crows rode the invisible wobbling top
In spiraling circles on the blue and white heavens
As they danced and played in the morning sun
They called out to one another in their familiar way,
Round and round uncaring of my lowly observation
Taunting and laughing at the curious little cat on the
ground
The cat thought - how do they do that - If only I could – I
would
Pacing back and forth, sitting with tail twitching, then running
and jumping
Up as he climbed and pranced on top of the green ivy hedge
and wall
Then without warning one of the crows swooped twice
Cawing and threatening the little predator as did the other from
his perch
Frightening the cat so that he leapt down and ran to me with
questioning eyes
Then darting along, he was out of sight, crouching and shaded,
keeping vigil,
Peering out from underneath the car, puffed up, ghostlike, a
shell-shocked soldier
While the black marauders sat like kings on the treetop, seeking
treasure below
Later on that day, after laying down to rest, I spun round with
the crows like clothes in a dryer
I became like the cat shrouded and hiding in a camouflage cloud
of tormented sleep
Out of nowhere on the street a grey van approached, inside eyes
watched menacingly
What had I done that I must flee away down under the cover
of confusion and slumber
I sat deep in a foxhole trench watching and scooting away
from the van, waiting for help
The man inside had seen me somehow and now the van had
stopped in the inky silence
Then, I heard a sound, someone was walking on the roof as police
helicopters growled and circled above
A part of me knew, inside of the fear and dream, that it was
a raccoon up there crossing over the shingles
He was after some snails, slugs and the dried cat food that
I’d left earlier on the table outside in the dark
The uneasy feeling would not leave me in peace however, and so
I turned in the sheets like a corkscrew
Suddenly, the man from the van had entered the house, grunting
and making noise in the other room
So I got up out of bed, put on my pants and shuffled blindly
to have a look around the place and outside
But there was no one there and so I sat down in a reclining
chair and slept – a restless unhappy sleep
After a while I awakened and ambled back to the bedroom feeling
around, stepping through the black
Trying not to bump into anything or stub my toe, then I sank
into the blankets, unconscious once more
Day arrived, the crows cawed, I went out into the cold fresh
air, and damp yellow light, with a gray mind
My thoughts huddled together and pooled in the garden, where
I found a large succulent that the raccoon had broken
I walked about listlessly until finding a good place and with
shovel in hand, I replanted it in the front yard
Those mischievous crows and the masked thieving coons, captivating,
mysterious roustabouts
Like pirates vs castaways, by sun they spy, flaunt and rob, or
prowl creeping and stealing by night - invaders
With the helicopters they speak to us of feral fears and
specters in the murky charcoal waters, under the purple ice of cobalt sky, moon
and stars.
