By Nyssa Shaw-Smith Gendelman
I love it when the crows talk to me:
They know the comings and goings along the road,
why the blue jays are shrieking
and the sparrows have grown quiet in the bush.
Crows tell of the hawk’s shadow skimming the treetops
the silent owl on the hunt,
the bat looping the lawn.
They know the house wren’s hysterics
mean the house cat is slinking
through the grass, they know
there’s a bear feasting in the black cherry,
a dead snake on the road
and the turkey vultures are circling.
Crows—all eyes and ears and voice,
And they know that I am good
for old crusts of bread and gossip.
Melissa Shaw-Smith 
Reblogged this on The Unfolding.
Nice Melissa! And what a great illustration from Nyssa!
Crows know a lot. I may offer an opinion, occasionally, but I usually do more listening than talking.
Yes, hard to get a word in edgewise when the crows are gabbing, and they have an irritating habit of taking flight if they don’t like what you have to say.
Another great poem and amazing illustration from your daughter.
Thank you! Yes, I’m in awe of Nyssa’s art. She has no training but has lots of natural talent. I’m very lucky to be able to occasionally call on her to do an illustration for me.
Wow – that is amazing – I thought perhaps she was studying art – she’s so good
Your poems never fail. They each contain brilliance.
What a great compliment. Thank you so much, and for reading, Roger.
I really love this one, just the thought of those crows telling you things is so intriguing! 🙂 There was a British children’s TV programme in the 70’s about a scarecrow and ‘the crow man’ had made him. The crow man definitely had conversation with those crows, and they would tell him tales about what the scare crow had been up to – it was a fascinating thought that it just might be that way! 😉
Love the art here too, such an unusual style! Your daughters art?
I was just wondering if I could publish your lovely poem in an online literary magazine of mine? There’s a new issue every two months (next one is September) with a collection of poetry/stories/essays and also spoken word. It’s aim is to promote writers/photographers and artists from all over the internet on blogs and writers websites so that readers can find where they are. Just in case you haven’t seen it mentioned on my blog, here’s a link for you to check out. https://thewritinggarden.wordpress.com/
The copyright remains with the writer and I always include a link back to where the work was originally published and also any other social media links you’d like me to include (please let me know which ones – if you have any).
Obviously I’d love you to say yes, but I am aware not all writers are keen to have their writing posted somewhere else, so if it doesn’t appeal Melissa, please don’t hesitate to say no, I really won’t mind.
Suzy 🙂
Suzy, delighted to hear from you. I’d be honored to be included in your literary magazine, and a simple link to my wordpress blog is great. Yes the artwork was done by my daughter. She occasionally posts her art on tumblr but it’s more of a personal space. Inspired by the work of the many talented artists featured in your mag. Thanks, and all the best, Melissa
Suzy, my daughter has now put up an art specific site and would be happy for you to link to it in the post: http://nyssaherself.tumblr.com
Many thanks again. Melissa
That will be great Melissa, thank you! 🙂 I meant to say about the art actually – maybe I could post it with your poem as you have it here and include some links to your daughters Tumblr blog. Would your daughter like that idea? It’s certainly very unusual art, it would be lovely to have something quite different. 🙂
Sorry for my late reply, I’ve got a bit too many things going on at the moment and had somehow managed to convince myself I’d replied to you!! 🙂
When the next issue is published I will get back to you with a link as soon as I can.
That would be great. Thank you, Suzy.
Thanks for the link Melissa, very colourful blog, I’m sure she will do very well on Tumblr! I have a few Tumblr blogs myself mainly writing ones, but one blog I post and reblog pretty much anything I like, so I’ve bookmarked to get back to Nyssa’s blog at some time – I do love art on there!
I’ll link the image and a separate link next to yours to her website on that next issue. Thanks so much for that! 🙂
Reblogged this on Ripple Poetry and commented:
Love poems about Crows.
Many thanks, Pearl!
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Just wanted to say thank you again Melissa for allowing me to publish your lovely poetry in The Writing Garden, and also your daughters beautiful art. Please do have a read of your work and also the links, just in case I’ve made any errors. Should be okay, but best to double check. If you need anything altered or added, please let me know. 🙂
Thanks so much Suzy. Everything looks good. What a great magazine you’ve put together. Proud to be among such a fine collection of work. I’ll post a link on my Facebook page. All my best, Melissa