It was yesterday
that I was a crow
with horse hair in my beak
and my nest half built
and my black feathers
shining through the early mist
of belonging to the world
of knowing how to balance
on the air of the world
and my shadow
the same colour as myself.

Even when the farmer
tied my body lifeless
to the wire in warning
and my bones poked out
still I flapped in the wind
and raised my wings
to the call of the air
my beak hinged open
in constant caw.

Moyra Donaldson

 

Moyra Donaldson is a poet and creative writing facilitator living and working in Northern Ireland. She has published six collections of poetry and a new collection, Holding to Air is forthcoming (Doire Press 2019). She is currently working on a collaborative project, Blood Horses, with visual artist Paddy Lennon.

© 2018