Foreground:
Seedheads of Golden Rod
frazzled and beige
tired sentinels alongside
a tangle of Buckthorn whose
outstretched thorny vines adorned with
clutches of red and darkening berries
relent to autumn
like the
blue- red leaves of raspberry cane
some still shining
all withering
in the dwindle of daylight
Above:
a crow cacophony
sweeps the sky clean of day
taking leave of
their daytime roost southeast of us
back home to the western darkness of night
they flock in numbers in the thousands
hundreds of whom are here just now
swooping low and catching currents
aloft above the newly shorn field of corn
Below:
broken bits of corncobs like shrapnel
strewn about the field
for better or for worse
will feed the local wildlife
and the harvest has
opened up the view
Background:
the corn bowed low and
now we can see up to the barns and houses
the sunset bruised sky slides behind them
saturated like the barns and rose leaves in
shades of rusty- reds and blue- greys
Without separation:
the air in the foreground filled with a deafening of wing-beats
the sky a visual interplay of the ruffling of ink- black feathers
which
sweep at first
over an evergreen hedgerow
make a sharp left turn
and flock over the broken field
they are a symphony now
conducted by internal rhythms
by a code of wing-beat
over half eaten corncobs in
a field already
given up to winter's quiet
and we are still standing here
given over to this up-swelling
heads tipped back
hearts beating to a rhythm
not unlike the crows
something in us
cracks and bleeds
sky and barn and rose blue- red
as
sorrow- wonder- joy
burst forth
in a radiance of crow song o'er the corn field
in the unfiltered wash of strange November warmth and light
and the playfulness of this sky dancing band of marauding crows
twirls us round
and calls us in
this murder of joy
this dizzying blackness
this crushing of all into one
Two sections of this post redone as tanka:
Foreground:
Seed heads frazzled, beige
tired sentinels alongside
outstretched thorny vine
bearing darkening berries,
hearts clutched, relent to autumn.
Above:
Crows sweep southeastern
sky clean of day--move roost from
light to western dark
in flocks that number in the
thousands- catch currents--my heart.
Thanks for sharing in my journey.
Be well,
Jill
Such a lot of beautiful imagery, Jill!ma