In the Throat of Corvus
by Jacie Ragan
Thirsty raven
gazes at the goblet
spattering rivulets of stars.
Dry throat caws
instead of singing binary
harmonies beseeching Apollo.
Trickster crow’s
skyfeathers caught
in the snakeskin of deceit.
Long and languid
mornings of figs and fibs
replaced by parched darkness.
Like snow
blackened by cinders
faint and ancient ringtail galaxy.
Craw of the crater
serpent’s scales and crow’s
plumage reflect their unending night.
Copyright © 2003, Jacie Ragan
Corvus, the Crow
by Johannes Hevelius
Born in the long night of the winter solstice, Jacie Ragan likes to decipher the legends spelled out by the constellations, and believes the world would be better if we spent more time looking up. Her latest chapbook is Deadly Nightshade from Flesh & Blood Press and her sonnet cycle about Machu Picchu, In the Shadow of the Condor, won Byline’s 2002 Poetry Award.