26 Feb 18 Raven Laughing

This twice-published poem is on the lighter side, in contrast to the first three verse offerings in Monday’s past posts. “About time,” you might say. Or better, spoken with military authority, “Make it so,” as Star Trek’s Captain Jean Luke Picard often commands. Below, you will find that lighter experience focused on a big black bird up here in Northwest Minnesota: The Raven, or Corvus Corax, if you prefer the taxonomic name. Raven’s presence is year-round, and provides us with a pretty constant source of awe and amusement.

Raven is the premiere trickster of the bird world akin to Coyote of myth, legend, and verity. The bird is a feathered beauty famous for thrilling aerobatics and amazing tricks. In the wild, ravens have pushed rocks on people to keep them from climbing to their nests, and they steal fish by pulling fishermen’s lines out of ice holes.

Relevant to this poem, the bird has a distinctive voice of at least 79 call types including a deep croaking. In captivity, parrots have an inferior vocabulary compared to Ravens who can learn to talk and mimic other noises, like car engines, toilets flushing, and animal and bird calls. 

Some idiots use the Raven for target practice; fortunately, Raven is too wily (there’s the Coyote again, as in Wily Coyote), and too aeronautically gifted for all but the most superior shots. Ravens don’t seem to take life very seriously, and they fear nothing but oncoming trucks. Even here, they have an uncanny ability to escape vehicles at the last moment. Doing their civic duty, Ravens are among the superlative roadkill clean-up teams. Surely, you’ve seen them in the middle or on the side of country roads, chowing down on a grisly carcass.

These ebony-feathered creatures have a varied diet made up primarily of meat including rodents plus other birds’ eggs and nestlings. (There’s that tricky, self-serving Coyote resemblance again.) Ravens are highly intelligent to the point where they work together hunting and driving prey into the open. This magnificent corvid is highly adaptable and can live comfortably in a wide range of environments. This bird’s range is nothing short of spectacular covering most of Europe and Asia, the American west coast and northern borders, and Canada.

Now that you know a bit more about the character you are about to poetically meet, strap on your metaphorical parachute and get ready for the Raven ride.

Raven Laughing

Gloss-black wings scissor-slice shrill air – winter sun shimmers, purpling feathers

Wing on wing, a suchness leaving tiny vapor trail of Raven breathing

In one long glide he skims forest, river, fields

that take me stumbling hours to cross, but he just cocks his black-maned head

 looks at me – a puffed pink lump, squinting up

at Raven laughing

Contrail crystals stream off his wingtips, hooked black-bladed beak

slits and severs space up there, while I stand aground listening

for what I’m sure I hear in just one black cackle – a Raven laugh

but the aerobatics do not stop and he’s too busy being one

to notice me or hoot – just squawks at his own dark brilliance and at my lurching run

So easy he fits his Raven skin, no worry etches his black eye

Effortless he shapes his Raven wings against evermore sky

And I        And I       And I

gulp, tear up, and wish my breath would sit sheathed in bone and flesh so well

as this glossy-feathered one gliding traceless winds

while all I can do is cry out to laughing Raven, leaving, with no sound

The Raven Adventure: As has become our habit, below you will find even more information about the Raven that may provide a deeper appreciation of the bird. If you are so inclined, the information may also help you “analyze” the poem, after which you will find the usual Explorations to assist you in engaging the poem and in encountering Raven.

Backgound:  The history of this poem is quite simple: I love watching Ravens and all their hijinks. Besides that, they are beautiful and highly intelligent. And they have a sense of humor, and have been known to sit on top of telephone poles and one Raven at a time drops clumps of snow on passersby. Ravens have been known to imitate wolves or foxes to attract them to carcasses that the Raven isn't capable of breaking open.

These big birds are lifelong monogamists, pairs staying together year-round, even roosting near each other every night. Pairs use the same nest site for several years, if possible. Through her twenty days or so of incubating on average 5-6 eggs, the male makes sure his beloved has nourishment by bringing her food to the nest. After the offspring hatch, both parents take part in satisfying the young ones diet and instruction in life-as-Raven.

Ravens are not crows as these grand creatures weigh on average four times as much as their smaller cousins. If using size to identify the Raven is difficult, try to sight the much heavier bill and a significant frill of feathers at the throat. With its size differential, the Raven’s silhouette can look much like a raptor. It is possible that in his bird-brained identity delusion, Raven believes he is a raptor, based on his brash behavior. In addition, unlike crows, who flap and fly pretty much in a straight line, Ravens, with their four-to-five-foot wingspan, are more likely to soar and glide on their long foraging trips. Crows gather in large flocks; Ravens hang out with a single buddy, lifelong mate, or a small family group. The exception to this is the winter congregations, or any time of year when one or more of them spots a dumpster or other food treasure trove.

Old Norse mythology tells us that two Ravens, Huginn (thought) and Muninn (memory) sit on Odin’s shoulders. Odin gave the birds the power of speech, and every morning they would fly about the world, and come back to Odin to inform him of what was going on. (Odin is also said to have had two wolves (Geri and Freki), but that’s another story.) Interestingly, Ravens, as opportunistic scavengers, truly do associate with large carnivores, especially wolves, in hopes that they will crack open carcasses that the Raven cannot manage. They also like hanging out close to humans because we are wasteful, and we provide large amounts of garbage.

In the mythology and clans of many Native American tribes, Raven is honored as a hero of various cultures. This quixotic figure is seen both as an esteemed and benevolent helper, assisting people and the environment around them, and as noted earlier, similar to Coyote, Raven is viewed as a trickster who can be extremely frivolous to the point of acting like a clown, causing himself trouble as well as those associated with him. In short, Raven is seen both as a hero who does magnificent deeds, and as a fool. 

Note: If you are interested in memorializing Raven in the form of a tattoo, you might start here:

http://thewildtattoo.com/black-ravens-tattoos/

Please enjoy the following explorations, or just laugh or cackle, as suits your mood.

Exploration 1: Why is this Raven laughing?

Exploration 2: How is the human on the ground feeling?

Exploration 3:  In the second to last stanza, what does the following line suggest: “. . . he’s too busy being one . . .”? Who is the “one” referred to?

Exploration 4: “Wing-on-wing” is a sailing term. How does it translate to Raven’s flight?

Exploration 5: Why is the person on the ground tearing up toward the end of the poem?

Exploration 6: In the poem’s last line, who is leaving?

Keep an eye out for Raven evermore!

Jack Pine Savage