Thursday, May 2, 2013


"There came news of a word.
Crow saw it killing men. He ate well.
He saw it bulldozing
Whole cities to rubble. Again he ate well.
He saw its excreta poisoning seas.
He became watchful.
He saw its breath burning whole lands
To dusty char.
He flew clear and peered."

from A Disaster
Ted Hughes
book Crow

Yes more BC vacation photos. One of the first creatures that
welcomed us on our initial somewhat damp walk on the
seawall were the crows. They were everywhere in the surf, on
the beach, in the park, in the sky. After watching them mob
the Bald Eagles, quarrel with the gulls  and raid the trash cans.
I decided this will be my "totem" animal, go figure I have always
felt a certain affinity for crows whether they were acting as the
noisy heralds of spring or moving through our neighbourhood
in great silent flocks in the fall, they have exerted a strong pull on
my imagination.  Possibly if I lived by a winter roost I would
feel differentely but I don't so I won't.

A great book about Crows is Crow Planet by Lynda Lynn Haupt.
Her book about Darwin, Pilgrim on the Great Bird Continent is
also very good.


And  like a good poem or painting the more closely
you look at a crow the more beauty you find.






And as with all good totems he can be scary looking,


magisterial,


and he also points the way.


"But Crow . . Crow
Crow nailed them together,
Nailing Heaven and earth together -

So man cried, but with God's voice.
And God bled, but with man's blood.

Then heaven and earth creaked at the joint
Which became gangrenous and stank -
A horror beyond redemption.

The agony did not diminish.

Man could not be man nor God God.

The agony

Grew.

Crow

Grinned

Crying: 'This is my Creation,'

Flying the black flag of himself. "

from Crow Blacker than ever
Ted Hughes
book Crow

3 comments:

Kathie Brown said...

Guy, what an amazing collection of images and words! That last poem is so dramatic! I like crows as well. I admire their intelligence. I don't blame you for taking it as your totem bird. I still don't know what bird I would choose.

Guy said...

Hi Kathie

I really do find crows are a perfect example of the adage the more you look the more you see.

Regards
Guy

WildBill said...

I've written about crows and ravens several times. Both are my native spirit guides. It's a long story that I shall someday write, but once as a child I was led out of the woods by a crow.

The last poem is simply beautiful.