Harbinger

Last night by moonlight, circled a crow,
Around the birches and the silent stream,
It screeched in warning, yet I saw no foe.


I watched from the window, as if to know
What lay beyond, some warning gleam,
When by moonlight circled a crow.


What I saw was a silver and shadowy show,
The moon's bright robes, and birch branches lean,
As the crow screeched a warning, and yet no foe.


I looked to the darkness as if to throw
All fears to the wind at the wicked scream,
When by moonlight circled a crow.

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The bird beat down, this time swooped low,
To circle a newly-dug garden seam,
Where it screeched again, but yet no foe.


A rictus of fear at the black wings' blow,
Turned me to stone as the thing blasphemed.
Last night by moonlight, circled a crow,
It screeched in warning, yet I saw no foe.

Mary O'Donnell's most recent collection is The Ark Builders (Ark Publications UK, 2009). A selection of her poems appeared in Hungarian in 2011. Her next novel is due in autumn of this year. She teaches creative writing at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth.

Mary O'Donnell

Mary O'Donnell, a contributor to The Irish Times, is a novelist, poet and short-story writer