Cailleach Poems

Raven Legends

A Shadorma


Oh spectre
of the blackest ink,
satin shroud
feathering;
ignorance begets terror
though you are a bird.

Poe’s penning
only adds darkness
to legends
greatest plight;
feared by those who believe myth,
unfounded tall tales.

Cailleach did
feast on men’s bodies
in disguise,
a raven,
her dark disguise projecting
into human eyes.

Totem for
the great Bran; guarded
by your kind, 
the tower
of London paints the sky black;
inky feathered swarm.

Great Arthur
Once and future king,
was transformed 
into your
breed, so that he might return
to reign once again.

In truth you
are only a bird,
like others
you raise young,
though stories the world around
feed creative minds.




Note 1: Cailleach, in Scottish legend, was an evil hag who dined on men’s bodies, disguised as different birds, including the raven.

Note 2: The Welsh diety Bran’s head is said to have been buried beneath the Tower of London after he cut it off himself and rests there securely guarded by the ravens.  Reference: https://treesforlife.org.uk/forest/mythology-folklore/raven/;