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.
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