Robert McDonald

“THE CROWS”

Daylight borrowed the crows for a very long time,
and I want you to know (as the crows certainly know)

that their flight, their calls to each other from the tip-tops
of maples, the way they rejoice in opened flesh: a deer

torn and reddened at the edge of the road, these things
should be happening at night, dark night, your time, your place.

And so, dear night, let’s broker a deal: We will give you back
the crows. We will include the singed urn

containing their voices, and return them to the realm
of underbrush. All we ask for in exchange

are bonfires, those midnight bursts of morning, Later,
we can discuss the true home range of the moon.

Robert McDonald's poetry and prose have appeared recently in Atticus Magazine, Rhino, Bending Genres, Cloudbank, and Literary Bohemian, among others. He lives in Chicago and works at an independent bookstore. With Kathie Bergquist, he is the author of The Field Guide to Gay and Lesbian Chicago.