Arboretum Floor: Specimens of Moody Park
A Field Guide
Precipice Crow: Chapter 1
I stand at the edge of the crossroads and Precipice Crow calls to me.
He says it's a dangerous thing, falling in love.
I hear his voice as a whisper.
I hear his voice as a far-off cry.
Fear me, love me, I do not mind either way.
As I look forward the road is shrouded in fog.
Above - directly above - and only there, is a faint wash of blue across an otherwise dark sky.
Which is real? The grey or the blue?
It is said, "the sky is blue", but when I look, the sky is grey.
Which is true, Precipice Crow?
Precipice Crow?
Precipice?
Precipice Crow: Prelude
Into the sun, follow me.
Follow where?
Shadows, shadows, everywhere.
I stand at the crossroads.
Where?
At the crossroads!
A council watches me from the right.
They eat their food and move together, then apart
but they are together.
Black shiny coats, blue and brown in the sun.
They wait. Watching me.
Will you?
Will I?
Come into the sun?
Will I?
You will,
Will you?
He knows I have made my decision
and Precipice Crow runs into the distance.
Precipice Crow: Chapter 2
Precipice Crow!
I caught the sun but
it slipped through my fingers and
went down
down
down.
Now it is getting dark and the wind is pushing leaves
babies cry and scream in strollers pushed by people and
all the strollers are rolling
away, and away, away.
Look there, a poor squirrel being chased by a dog.
I wonder, what is the difference between a squirrel and a dog in the city?
Is it a question of ownership?
I wonder, what is the difference between me and a dog in the city?
But in the woods (what are the woods?)
in the woods what is the difference between me and an It?
The paths out are grey. Purple grey concrete, cracked and bruised by tree roots.
Great grey plumes roll over each other in the sky.
In the sky, what is the difference between a bird and a plane?
One is made. The other is also made.
Is it a question of who makes it?
Who makes it, Precipice Crow?
