On top of Old Knobby,
All covered with flies,
I lay on the granite
And studied the skies.
I lay there all summer—
Two days and a half—
When a raven lit near me
And started to laugh :
“I see by your outfit
You come from the south!”
Then he made a rude gesture
And rattled his mouth.
Not surprised in the least
That a raven could talk,
I reached down beside me
And picked up a rock.
Quoth the raven, “Hey, whoa!
By that sign I suppose
That you’re an old-timer
In spite of your clothes!”
Then he danced all around,
Keeping just out of reach,
And thus gave me a moment
To polish my speech :
“I am better than that!
I’m the Salt of the Earth,
A true-born Canadian,
A child of the North!
“From the waters down east
To the waters out west,
And the ones from up north
That get mixed with the rest,
I have followed my trade
And I’ve stuck to my word—
So I’ll take no more bullshit
From some stupid bird.”
He shook his head sadly,
“My mother once said
If I ever went North
I would wish I were dead.
“I should never have come
To this ill-favoured shore—
I'm Baltimore bound
Where I'll sing : ‘Nevermore!’”
Then he, lifting his wings,
Drifted up to the skies,
Where the mists of Aurora
Were starting to rise,
And I heard him exclaim
As he faded from sight :
“Goodbye! Have a nice day—
Even when it’s all night!”
-
Author:
pWc (Pseudonym) (
Offline)
- Published: August 26th, 2024 11:10
- Comment from author about the poem: Yellowknife must be placed near the top of any list of northern communities well situated for research into the essential ornitholiterary question: “Do (or can) ravens really say ‘Nevermore’?” Or, as James Thurber queried, was Poe romancing?
- Category: Nature
- Views: 7
- Users favorite of this poem: Cheeky Missy
Comments2
I heard that you have to split their tongue first. It's a tongue twister for them. Good write
Your poem rattled along in a way I really enjoyed. There are a couple of aficionados of Poe's Raven lurking here, so I'll leave that to them.
Yellowknife looked like one hell of a place and probably very rewarding for those courageous enough to visit!
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