Raven’s New Words

by Lisa Fields

I do not know their language

My ear picks up gurgles, groks and caws

Perched on the tip of an electric pole

Above us, raven’s beak opens

and speaks an unfamiliar tone

Electronic, repetitive;

Rosa tilts her head back to see the source,

slim muzzle pointed skyward, ears perked

she wonders at this odd sound

Our shared creative expression,

my thoughts and feelings take form as written words on paper

Raven describes the sound he hears in

his song of the wire

* * * * *

Lisa Fields is a contract agricultural journalist for Professor Quirine Ketterings, and occasionally others at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.