I like this, Joel. And I really appreciate your research into the crow. I already knew about the ‘murder’ of crows because I saw a documentary about crows and how they can recognize human faces and ‘remember’ the person. They are a very intelligent bird. You are right about the harsh and raucous noise of their gravelly voices joined together. It is alarming. I live in the forest and that grating chorus is absolutely an alert about danger of eagle robbing nest or of raccoon climbing the nest tree, or other predators or trouble in the jungle. Your piece here is very curious to me, in that I can’t tell if you write of their awfulness or write of their connection to nature and ‘OUR’ awfulness. Calling out a name we don’t understand and us as fools seems a plus for the crows. Poisoning the sky with their wings seems a plus for the human. But best of all….I REALLY liked that last stanza: “…and the crows they murdered me/because although I was a witness/I refused to see/“. Plus for the crow, minus for the human. Very mindful piece of writing, Joel. ~~ djl
The term "murder" was used to describe a flock of crows as far back as the 15th century, according to the Oxford English Dictionary. (Here's a spine-chilling version from 1475: "A morther of crowys.")
The OED suggests this is an allusion to 'the crow's traditional association with violent death' or 'its harsh and raucous cry.' If you've ever heard dozens of agitated crows in full cry, it really does sound as if they're yelling bloody murder.
This usage, which apparently died out after the 1400s, was revived in the 20th century. The first modern citation in the OED comes from 1939, but the usage was undoubtedly popularized by its appearance in 'An Exaltation of Larks' (1968), a compendium of "nouns of multitude" by James Lipton.
First Edition Translation of Teselas by Carmen Crespo X111 César Simón Poetry Prixe 2016 Translated from Spanish by Robin Ouzman Hislop and Amparo Arrospíde
Dear readers, this is my third book of poems, and inside are a special collection of what have turned out to be not only MY personal favorites, but also the favorites of many of YOU. Some of these have never been available in print before...
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The term "murder" was used to describe a flock of crows as far back as the 15th century, according to the Oxford English Dictionary. (Here's a spine-chilling version from 1475: "A morther of crowys.")
The OED suggests this is an allusion to 'the crow's traditional association with violent death' or 'its harsh and raucous cry.' If you've ever heard dozens of agitated crows in full cry, it really does sound as if they're yelling bloody murder.
This usage, which apparently died out after the 1400s, was revived in the 20th century. The first modern citation in the OED comes from 1939, but the usage was undoubtedly popularized by its appearance in 'An Exaltation of Larks' (1968), a compendium of "nouns of multitude" by James Lipton.