My Uninvited Guest

                                                    

   
                    1)  Each day he comes, nay, every morning
                         Though not invited shouting loud
                         His looks too sharp and strutting proud;
                         Turning his neck as if looking for something
                         His usual seat, a ledge, near the steps before
                         The door, calling his friends galore.

               2)      What kind of visitor this dusky fellow
                         No charming red or glowing face
                         A coal-black creature with an awkward pace
                         His tone too harsh, not sweet and mellow
                         Like dark shining beads his tiny eyes gleam
                         As he turns aside with a raucous scream.

               3)      He shouts for his friends to come and share
                         His booty with a jolly blend of thrill
                         Unheeding our angry warnings shrill
                         Unperturbed they enjoy their daily fare
                         With harsh dissonant cacophony
                         With a close-knit feeling of harmony.

               4)      His raucous cry not appealing to me
                         His black, gaunt figure not pleasing to my eyes
                         His daily visits intrusive--what a surprise!
                         A part of our family, frank and free:
                         A sense of void we felt if we could not behold
                         His dark feathered form near our threshold.

               5)      Though common yet he seemed to fly
                         From darker worlds beyond our sight
                         Where ancestral souls reside after they die
                         Supposed to assume darker forms, not bright
                         Is he the daily guest from them among
                         My dearest kin I missed so long!

               6)      I stared at him confounded dumb with  craze
                         Who might be this black creature I can't discern
                         Fabled mount of dark dreadful Saturn stern!
                         Or messenger of death with a sinister gaze
                         With a bewitching spell like Stygian weeds
                         With dark eyes shining like magic beads!

               7)      Who ever may be this dark ominous bird
                         His daily presence moved my heart;
                         Though not a heavenly bird of fabled thought
                         A kindred touch in his harsh voice I heard;
                         No deceitful colored arrogant show
                         In blackest terms stark truths in his feelings flow.

               8)      Our daily guest, though uninvited , I say
                         Honoring guests , a noble act , indeed ;
                         We take our lunch only after we feed
                         Our dark mysterious visitor grey
                         His croaking call rings with friendly intimacy
                         His slanting gaze with merry smiles we see.

                                          ===         ====     ====
                                                                                                   Somaseshu Gutala
                   Note:

               1)  According to Indian legends a crow is associated with ancestral
                    spirits. The manes are supposed to assume the form of a crow to
                    take the food offered by the family in funeral rites and annual ceremonies.

              2)   A crow is the mount (vahana) of Lord Saturn, one of the most powerful
                    planets  whose glance is supposed to create many ordeals and troubles.
                                   
              3)  The crow is also considered as a dark creature associated with witches
                   and their dark spells of magic.
               
             4)   Grey here implies some thing unknown or unexciting

     
             5)   Stygian means dark like the river Styx flowing in the underworld.

                                                 ++++++++++++++++++++++++
                                                --------------------------------------