MURDERS, LIARS AND THIEVES?

By Kimberlye Parker

How can we call a flock of Crows murders? I was perplexed with how Crows had gotten stuck with such a harsh title? According to PBS Nature show, they are called “Murders” simply because they eat EVERYTHING! Including dead remains. What is not said is we humans are the reason for these dead bodies. Not the crows. In fact they are in a sense cleaning up our mess. After learning of this mislabeling of the Corvidae family, I wanted to redirect the facts. It wasn’t until our guest speaker Dr. Janie Miller, a poet, came and spoke to our class about the art of poetry and how we can use poetry to give things new meaning. I was hooked; this is how I would share my disdain for the way I feel crows are mislabeled. Here is the truth of the Corvidae family displayed in my poem.

Murders

How dare you labels us & say its because of how we live

We are simple,

We eat

Trash, garbage, leftovers

Eating what’s been casted away or forgotten

What its there, when its there

Fresh, rotten, new, or old

Nothing is ever wasted

We even do as you say

Reduce, reuse, &recycle

 What of this suggest we are murders

We partake of those that have fallen upon death

Fellow sprits lost to roads

Frozen by the cold

Killed at sea

We even digesting those pesky insects

That not everyone can see

Yet, you still label us

Murders

How can that be

When our favorite foods are things you waist

O’ wait it must be the Cheetos we stole

Hoping you did see

What else could it be

Wait

Maybe murder means something else to thee

Because we are bird maybe we just don’t see

This could maybe be

Yet, there were countless times

That my ancestors had seen

When there was nothing but dead human bodies

Left out for all to see

At sea, on land, and even in the trees

It was not us who cover the world with

All these dates reminders of

Pain, loss, and tragedy

We never slayed our neighboring countries

Because they wouldn’t share their goodies

Or speak to our deities

Then don’t forget color was also a key

When black and white couldn’t be

All these lost sprits lost but

Not a one was due to the

Corvidae family