The shortest distance between two spots is
a crow who knows how to create straight lines
inside equations that carry no promise
of lifetime achievements through the sky.
Crows are not like humans who theorize
all the time with their straight-laced hearts
and their gargantuan brains cut down to size
by appetites always for bigger prize.
If humans could but know how those crows know
how to simply adore their free-fall drops,
those ecstasies of divorce from gravity;
if we could but know how those crows can soar,
how they stay mindless of lies well inside
Earth’s promise to have and hold forever.
Barbara Schweitzer’s poetry, flash fiction, and plays have been produced, published and anthologized. Her numerous awards for her work include three fellowships from her state’s Council on the Arts. She is author of 33 1/3: Soap Opera Sonnets which was selected as a Best Book by the Providence Journal.
