Crow Song

    The crow is a scavenger,
    getting by on the discarded
    half-eaten reality of a
    world where it has no place
    But this,
    this poem
    this perfect thing
    this perfectly natural thing
    I cannot name it
    this moment
    when it appears
    for no good reason
    when everything I am
    finally gets to you
    after all the chanting
    and incanting
    the words and spells
    the curses
    the passionate responses
    the cynical retorts
    and the elegies
    this poem
    this perfect thing
    before poetry was named
    before we called to her
    before we knew the word,
    truth had a name
    I have tried to say it
    this poem
    this perfect thing
    perfectly natural
    this poem
    this place is its own end
    it has no past or journey
    it creates itself
    and for as long as it
    exists with
    its past in its present
    and its future on our lips
    each wave a perfectly natural
    progression
    undetermined
    and organic, resolving
    its own conflicts
    in perfectly natural form
    Trust this poem,
    trust this kiss
    Say the word with me
    Say the word that speaks itself
    and this poem
    sing it with me
    we will bear our best truth
    and sometimes without sense
    you can sing it fast
    I will sing it slow
    You will kiss away my tears
    and I will calm your wrath
    we will sing this poem
    this poem is our path
    and at the end of this poem
    this song of the crow
    you will know my secrets
    as far as I can go
    you will know my secrets
    you will know
    what you want to know


    ~XineAnn