Rather a Raven
        Cause time will bid and make us rise
        Make ravens of us all.
                                —Patti Smith

I'd rather become
a raven
than an angel,
rather follow
the wolves
than God.
I'd rather shiver
in a snow-heavy conifer
than loll
on a sunny cloud.
Let me perch
on a telephone wire
in a Taos back street
and chat with a starling,
instead of carrying messages
to prophets and priests.
I have no desire
to guard or guide
some lost human. Instead
let me lift
the red flesh—
the atoms
the essence—
of the lightning-struck mustang
over the aspens
above the snow line
into heaven's
wild blue freedom.
At day's end
I will settle
on top of the mesa
the sunset's glow
in my black eyes
                                        close my wings
and grate my harsh song
of praise.

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Copyright © 2019 Serena Fusek All rights reserved
from Ancient Maps and a Tarot Pack
The Bitter Oleander Press
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission