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jwesley
Member Rara Avis

since 2000-04-30

Posts 7563
Spring, Texas

0 posted 2017-05-21 05:18 PM

Rim Of The Canyon

Cawed, I did,
like that raven
sitting on the canyons rim,
his voice echoing
far better than mine -
coarse, guttural,
like a lost tribe
hidden just below the rim
trying to stay that way,
using the sounds of nature
to mask their own.
.
Though poor at imitation,
I now teeter
on that canyon's edge,
and much like the raven
spread my arms,
as he does his wings,
giving homage to
the sun's dying light,
wishing I could fly -

The raven,
as if he listened to my thoughts,
falls over the rim,
drops a hundred feet,
silently rises on the updraft,
hovers just yards from my face . . .
and he chortles,
that queer, laughingnoise
ravens make,
as if taunting me,
my lack of feathers.

I hold out the almond bar
on which I'd been nibbling,
he slides in and
with the lightest of touches,
takes it away.

The raven,
with a slight tip of wing,
slides away going down, down,
disappearing into the depths below.

Caw, I hear, echoing from wall to wall,
coarse, guttural,
like a lost tribe
hidden just below the rim,
trying to stay that way,
using the sounds of nature
to mask their own.
.
.
.
.

© wesley james beard, jr.

[This message has been edited by jwesley (05-21-2017 06:13 PM).]

P.U Stinkenbaum
Member
Posts 388
No Fan Of Exhaust Fans

1 posted 2017-05-21 05:38 PM

I like ravens. It's the gypsy in them. Peter Beagle's "A Fine And Private Place" relates a tale of a man's 'friendship' with one...not unlike yours Mr. Beard. A raven will get as close to you as what it is you have that he wants.

Great poem, great story.

Just out looking for the real me...

jwesley
Member Rara Avis

since 2000-04-30

Posts 7563
Spring, Texas

2 posted 2017-05-21 06:18 PM

I've had 3 over the last 50 or more years. Two hand raised - very, very intelligent birds, with a sense of humor and quite possessive of things. Now they're illegal to have.

thanks for coming in my friend.

Poet In Pink
Senior Member
Posts 1066
MI

3 posted 2017-05-21 07:06 PM

Wonderful read J I could see everything so clearly through your word painting ~ A most delightful read ~ Thank you ~ Alana

Lori Grosser Rhoden
Member Patricius

since 2009-10-10

Posts 10202
Fair to middlin' of nowhere

4 posted 2017-05-21 07:50 PM

Thanks for taking me there to that Raven place, it was wonderful. But then, it always is no matter where you take us.

~L

jwesley
Member Rara Avis

since 2000-04-30

Posts 7563
Spring, Texas

5 posted 2017-05-22 11:01 AM

Lori and Pink - This was based on an experience of mine at the Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA when I visited a couple years ago. A raven actually did take part of an Almond Joy from my fingertips - then hovered on almost motionless wings a couple yards past the rim (on the updraft , I'm sure) waiting for more. An awesome experience!

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