NanoPoblano Day 9

Day nine’s prompt is to write about “something substantial” so I chose one of my longer poems. I am getting the really fine lines around my eyes. I am approaching 32 and I am feeling my age. I don’t feel old, but I don’t feel 21 anymore. I am definitely in a new phase of my life. There are fewer weddings and more divorces, more graduations, fewer births. The funerals are far less surprising and come as often as anything else. It’s not a bad phase, it’s a comfortable phase. It’s easy to be complacent and just do the same ‘ol thing every week. But I try to be spontaneous and fun for my young son, and I try to stay in the know. I’m not dead yet!

  Crow’s Feet

As I shook out the blankets this morning
I found a black feather on the bed.
I haven’t seen them, but I see their tracks.
In the melting snow I see faint outlines
of crow’s feet.
The caw caw that rings from the trees
tells me that crows circle overhead.
Their shadows darken my days.
Crows like shiny things.
They weave silver into my hair
as I dream about my youth.
A shadow flutters across my face
lands at the corner of my eye
and I feel the wind on my cheek.
I hear not just the sound of the wind
but the sound of flapping wings.
They peck at my back and legs
while I try to cheer at ball games
making it hard to sit and hard to stand.
The tracks they leave become
dry river beds that have flash floods.
Their shadows chill me and make
me pray for the sun and its warmth.
I only catch glimpses of them
from the corner of my eye
but I know they circle me.