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Call
call
calling you
down there, yes you,
hey you! Just saying thanks
for all the entertainment.
You crack us up
with so much plodding
up and down
the Ridge. What is
that hulky pack
you're carrying?
Ever heard of wings?!
Ha
ha
ha what
a buffoon.
Almost as much fun
watching you as heckling
Hawk, harassing Owl,
or sticking it to
old Raven, what a
codger, never seen him smile.
Sometimes seems every one
of you were made for our
amusement.
Ha
ha hrk
ca
caw —
sorry,
laughed so hard
must have inhaled
a Blackfly.
From Snake Den Ridge, A Bestiary (March Street Press, 2008).
Used here with the author's permission.
"Image of Crows, Corvus brachyrhynchos", by Linda French Griffin, from Snake Den Ridge, a Bestiary. (c) 2008
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Photo credit: Gene Wilson
Bill Griffin is a naturalist and retired family physician in rural North Carolina. The author of seven collections, his poems have appeared in many regional and national journals. For a week in 2012, Bill lived at the NC Zoological Park in Asheboro as Poet-in-Residence; one of the poems from Snake Den Ridge, A Bestiary was selected for a permanent outdoor installation there. Learn more about Bill and order his books at https://griffinpoetry.com/.
      
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Joan Luther:
Wonderful and lively fun!
Posted 02/15/2024 08:54 PM
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Jancan:
Very creative, amusing, and entertaining!
Posted 02/15/2024 07:17 PM
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CamilleBalla:
Very clever and funny. I will have to look upward and see if we have crows around here.
Posted 02/15/2024 12:34 PM
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Lori Levy:
I find your crows as entertaining as they find us in your poem.
Posted 02/15/2024 12:29 PM
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BillGriffin:
Thank you, Jayne, for featuring CROWS and especially for including Linda's art. The more I learn about crows and their cousin Corvids the more I appreciate them: gregarious, intelligent, strong family ties, unabashed, just fun. Perhaps the other creatures of Snake Den Ridge, especially silly humans, were indeed created for crows' amusement.
Thank you readers for all your comments.
Posted 02/15/2024 12:03 PM
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Glen Sorestad:
Crows certainly rank among the most fascinating of birds and Bill, you've certainly captured many of its audacious traits. Well done!
Posted 02/15/2024 11:09 AM
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wayne.goodling@yahoo.com:
This is the season in northern Indiana where I have many crows to appreciate. Your poem gave me a little more understanding of why I so much enjoy seeing and hearing these guys. Thank you.
Posted 02/15/2024 09:29 AM
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Wilda Morris:
Wonderful poem.
Posted 02/15/2024 09:06 AM
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Victoria:
Oh yes, crows. We get a hundred or so every afternoon not long before sundown. Roosting in the heavily treed double lot across the street they set up quite a racket. Swirling out in black crowds only to settle back down on another more worthy branch. Who knows what all the commotion is about?
Posted 02/15/2024 09:05 AM
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Darrell Arnold:
I'm laffin'!
Posted 02/15/2024 08:41 AM
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Larry Schug:
The glory of imagination or the plain, simple truth, or both. A fine poem anyway you look at it.
Posted 02/15/2024 07:24 AM
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