The Fledgling

A fledgling crow huddled in
the grass beneath the drooling
gazes of my curious dogs.
Its eyes were blue.

And in the tree, its mother screamed

In my hands it lay, gently confused.
Too young to fear me,
it opened its thirsty beak and greedily
swallowed water from a syringe.

And outside the window, its mother screamed. 

I scratched its head,
stroked its breast,
and boxed it for its journey
to a haven for homeless birds.
And, as I carried it to the car,
its mother circled overhead.

And screamed.
Copyright © | Year Posted 2015

Poem

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Gifford Avatar
August 23, 2015 at 6:51 PM
I admire the caring and compassionate care that you gave this injured fledgling, Mary. The cries of the mother are heartbreaking, expressing almost human emotions for her off spring. Thank you for liking my crow poem and alerting me to yours. A7. ~~~Darlene
Rotman Avatar
August 24, 2015 at 9:50 PM
You are absolutely right. Everybody seems to go on a gut feelings these days. I was referring to the scene when the mother is separated from the calf. It's great you look at issues from all sides. I saw a doc about Vegan, and they actually stated that protein wasn't all that important! The only food that actually provides all your amino acids is red meat!
Gifford Avatar
August 23, 2015 at 7:32 PM
Yes, Mary,I have seen Blackfish.But nothing is black and white. SeaWorld does a lot of good. Rescuing injured sea animals and returning them to the sea once they are healed. And statistics show that the whales at SeaWorld live just as long as free ocean whales. SeaWorld educates visitors and does a lot of helpful things to improve the life of their animals. It is unfortunate that accidents happen and some staff have died. Here in Ca. staff are no longer allowed in the pool with the whales,as before.And the movie Blackfish has hurt attendance. The movie raises good questions that I am still struggling with.So I can see the others side of this issue, too.
Rotman Avatar
August 23, 2015 at 6:53 PM
The mother's screams were devastating. I kept wishing I could tell her that her baby would be all right. Have you seen Blackfish?
Rotman Avatar
July 22, 2015 at 4:56 PM
Thank you for your comments. I was secretly disappointed that no one else seemed to like this poem because it's definitely one of my favorites!
Flick Avatar
July 22, 2015 at 1:16 PM
Chilling. Thank you for sharing this strange, necessary juxtaposition of tender adoptive care and sheer terror of loss with beautifully poignant imagery
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