Crows at Dawn by Robert Milby

Photograph by Diane Sahms-Guarnieri

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Crows at Dawn

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The bald man walks briskly; shoulder bag and freshly cleaned suit coat;                                  smart phone; smart boots, thoughts of Manhattan, and a long day.                                                  It must have taken an hour to shave his head; press his Brooks Brothers’ shirt.

Spring has left her adolescence.  Crows converse rapidly;                                                         aggressively beneath the remains of a full moon.                                                                           Robins and Sparrows wander nearby.

The man rules his stride, and with no thoughts of his sleeping wife;                                                  no cars on the avenue to distract him, he does not look at the namesake of the street                                        to determine the crows on Maple Avenue.

Their calls are crucial to the dawn.  This glory at sunrise—a religious invocation,                 celebrating the last cool morning before Summer enters her kitchen.                                                     The bald chap does not look up as he enters his Volkswagen, and shuts the door.

 He speeds up the street— Roses and Honeysuckle chase his dream, while visions of office meetings wander his tired mind, past the Robins, past the Sparrows; beneath the gathering Crows, laughing at him at dawn.

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Robert Milby, of Florida, NY, has been reading his poems, public since March, 1995, and hosts four Hudson Valley poetry readings; including the popular series at Mudd Puddle Café in New Paltz.  He has published several books of poetry, and two cds.  Since October, 2003, Milby and Performance Artist, Carl Welden perform as Theremin Ghosts!  Milby reads original ghost and gothic poems, as Welden accompanies on the Moog Theremin.  Milby is the Poet Laureate of Orange County, NY 2017- 2019.