Sunday 21 August 2011

The Crows are Back

The crows are back
circling the field. 
Their raucous shanty
punctuating the silence.
And the swallows sigh,
closing their eyes,
dreaming of home -
of flying South.
Door bolted
I thumb through vinyl,
finding Ella Fitzgerald
singing at Carnegie Hall.
Turning the volume
I drown their caws,
as I join the swallows 
sleeping in their nests.
And we soar over open plains
while she sings of Summertime.

39 comments:

Elizabeth Grimes said...

Oh! What wonderful late summer piece! Nice job Deborah!

mamahasspoken said...

Don't know why, but this makes me wonder where the crows go for the winter :o/

Shammickite said...

Sadly, summer is coming to an end.

Scarlet said...

nice capture of nature's ebb and flow... i am joining the swallows too!

Bethe77 said...

I really like this one! it makes me think of the end of Summer with Fall coming closely behind. Great write!
Blessings

PhotoDiction said...

I've been waking up to crows at about 4:15 am. They are a very jarring sound. Yet, there is some comfort to having nature call you from sleep, so I continue to leave the bedroom windows open. Though I would rather it be Ella's voice. Needless to say, I very much enjoyed this little poem. And though there is probably a deeper meaning, what with crows (and ravens) and spirits speaking, I'm quite happy thinking just of Ella drowning out the crows.

Brother Ollie said...

Ella vs the Crows...nice.

Anonymous said...

I have just found a new favorite poet! This is beautiful! Do u have a twitter? Find me
@BackyardPonders

Happy Sharing in the Pantry!

madhumakhi said...

Cawing crows are definitely an unpleasant indication of summer's arrival. But at least there are swallows to balance the crows and Ella Fitzgerald to drown them out.
A good way of looking at things.

Anonymous said...

Crows are not high on my list of song birds either. smiles

Rachel Hoyt said...

The crows hang outside the office where I work sometimes and DARN are they LOUD! I love the idea of drowning them out with music. Great write.

Rachel Hoyt said...

P.S. My poetry pantry poem: Trash is Now Treasure

Raining Iguanas said...

Love the poem, but you have to love those tough buggers. Good excuse for an Ella fix anyway.

Ravenblack said...

Nice contrast between the beginning with the noisy chaotic crows and the the end with peacefulness of swallows in their nest and the background sounds of Ella Fitzgerald singing. Enjoyed this poem very much. :)

Yvonne said...

Love the poem. Beautiful talent.

Anonymous said...

Deborah, first of all, congrats on having vinyl. I have my collection, too! Second, using Ella to drown out the crows, crooning to you in your nest of "Summertime," well, you're my kind of person! Amy
http://sharplittlepencil.wordpress.com/2011/08/21/escape-can-be-forever-amy-winehouse/

Mary said...

Deborah, do think the sounds of Ella Fitzgerald could EASILY drown out the sound of 'crows,' whether literally or figuratively. Creative write.

Daydreamertoo said...

I don't like when birds start flying south. It means Autumn is on its way and here, winters comes in fast on its heels. Hate winters here in Atlantic Canada.

Shauna said...

Cool poem. A feeling of melancholy,
but not a negative melancholy.

Deborah said...

Thank you all everso much for stopping by and for your lovely comments :o) x

Sylar said...

nice post :P
+follow

Susannah said...

I really enjoyed this one, what a perfect balance between the crows and ella and the swallows. The imagery of this one stays in the mind. Beautifully done, I loved it!

Paul Andrew Russell said...

Whata wonderful line:

'Their raucous shanty
punctuating the silence.'

Lovely. :-)

Deborah said...

Thank you so much Sylar, Susannh and Paul :o) xx

Anonymous said...

Wow, this cause me to feel your words. Could picture every aspect.

Deep breath, sigh

Looking forward to summer staying behind, here in Florida, it has been hot. Thankfully though, we have had a great rainy season. Everything here is lush.

Thank you so much for coming over and visiting.

Deborah said...

:o) Thank You Pretty Swicy x

Cad said...

A nice musical interlude there...

Dave King said...

This is good. There are a lot of good things in it; some great lines and images. I was particularly struck by: "Their raucous shanty"

Unknown said...

I loved this =3 For some reason, I thought of the birds as people, one annoying the other. Great imagery. Well done!

Deborah said...

Thank you everso much Cad, Dave and Lilu :o) x

Brian Miller said...

nice...this is peaceful to me...the music as summertime draws to a close...

Serving Hugs on a Platter and Tears in a Teacup said...

Very Nice! Job well done!

~alaurilee :)

Jenny said...

Deborah. The imagery in this is really amazing.

Deborah said...

Thank you so much for your comments Brian, alaurilee and Jenny, they're much appreciated xx :o)

Rashmi said...

Ha wonderful....crows...you have captured that scene nicely.......

Deborah said...

Thank you Rashmi x :o)

Jess PJ said...

Crows are such smart animals. You've painted the picture well. Nice summer read.

My pantry piece:http://bit.ly/p8oEDn

Anonymous said...

Deborah, this is absolutely gorgeous. The crows, the swallows, Ella and summertime. You have conjured up a magical world with the wave of your poetic wand. Thank you so much!

Deborah said...

Thank you Jessica :o)

Thank you so much Selma xx