dead crow on the freeway

the crow did not want to die in such a public manner

but death came up behind it and batted it out of the sky

it fell in an elliptical spiral, hesitating from the updraft

of the cars speeding by on the freeway below then plummeting

and hitting the pavement between two lanes with an unheard thud

one wing standing straight up in a avian salute

feathers splayed, shimmering & shivering in the rush of the hour

a juaneno headdress headless & heedless

the crow knew the time had come for death, its good intention

to fly to the sheltered grove of trees, close, as the crow flies

& find a quiet bower to rest & pass what time was left

with a caw/a preening/a settling of scores

as many animals do & arrange his still life a la chardin

(a rabbit recently found dead & curled around the base of the

fountain in our yard on a bed of withered leaves & dried flowers

a palette of taupe, pale pink & cream)

death, with its timepiece & schedule, laid those plans aside

& passengers & drivers never noticed the crow or its fluttering

feathers, a funeral cortège of speeding cars, save for one or two

quick realizations of what had come to pass perhaps nodded in

sympathy or at least a visceral understanding of a life brought still.