crow's gift

in august of 2008, on my birthday,

this story arrived as a gift from ali miracle holt.

*

the crows here are so smart. and lordly.

one crawwked at me from atop a sign this morning.

here is a story about one:

sitting on his back deck early one august morning, focused on his laptop,

steven suddenly felt someone watching him.

he looked up into the shining black eye of a crow, standing on the railing not two meters away.

the crow tilted his head, staring over his beak at steven.

clearly, the crow expected something of him.

'hello crow,' steven ventured.

in response the crow narrowed his eyes and pushed his head a bit closer,

which had the effect of elongating his whole body, pointing toward him.

steven dared not look away.

'what can i do for you?' he asked.

the crow walked sideways along the rail a bit, peering at him from this new angle,

and fluffed his wings out briefly and refolded them.

'it's a fine day to be out flying,' continued steven.

'the sun is shining, the flowers are blooming.

i was just finding some good wake up music when you caught my attention.'

then the crow really got his attention with a loud crawwwwk and a piercing glare.

taken aback, suddenly steven 'heard' inside his head the odd-sounding but distinct

'i have come a long way to deliver this message.'

steven's eyes were wide.

the crow cocked his head and steven 'heard,'

'you are a good man.

a friend to animals and children.

gentle.

we thank you.

know that the birds and wild creatures will watch over you, and those you love.'

almost dumbfounded, steven managed to get out,

'why, thank you! i feel honoured by this.'

the crow seemed to relax just a bit, encouraging steven to go on.

'can i do anything in return?'

'just keep being grateful, honouring all life, paying attention to what's around you.'

now the crow flapped his wings and steven sensed the end of his patience.

'thank you, thank you very much.

i will do my best to follow your advice.'

already the crow had turned around and was testing the breeze in preparation for flying off.

he looked back at steven one last time,

opened his beak to crawwwk once,

then flew off the railing and up into the clear sky,

heading west.

steven watched until the crow became a tiny black dot

then disappeared far above the roofs of the neighborhood.

* * * * * * * * *

ali's body flew away some time ago.

but her spirit remains

spread like a starry blanket across much of the known world.