Crow

Sweet kid, what is this world we're giving you?
Smoldering and fascist with no mother
Are you dreaming about a crow?

In the middle of November we went back into the woods
Right after breakfast to see if we could see this past August's forest fire zone
On the hill above the lake, the sky was low and the wind cold
The trail was closed
At the barricade I stood listening
In my backpack you were sleeping with her hat pulled low
All the usual birds were gone or freezing
It was all silent except the sound of one crow
Following us as we wove through the cedar grove
I walked and you bobbed and dozed

Sweet kid, we were watched and followed and I thought of Genevieve
Sweet kid, I heard you murmur in your sleep
"Crow," you said, "Crow"
And I asked, "Are you dreaming about a crow?"
And there she was