The Grim Raven

When an unliving creature ushers the dead...

Never was there a more perfect bird,
whose actions never seem too absurd.
Ebony wings and c**k of the head,
a feathered friend who migrates the dead.

A sentry of sorts, the guiding way,
ushering corpses so they can't stay.
How fitting a graveyard be his home,
with plenty of food he never roam.

Each life that passes must pay a toll,
the debt to be paid must be a soul.
To sustain his own life he must feed,
eating the dead is a nasty deed.

From high in his perch he can see all,
making sure there's no delay, no stall.
The flow of bodies must be steady,
for any uproar he is ready.

No one to trespass upon his land,
but ever ready to take a stand.
The raven will fight 'til he is gone,
the grim reaper but a mighty pawn.

He never stays dead for very long,
his body revived through raven song.
In his small murder he is the lead,
assisting the gone who are in need.

Author's Note

Questions, comments, concerns. This is a lengthy poem...sort of. I have a feeling there's more to be added to it. Also I know I repeat dead a lot, but there's no suitable substitute without reworking the whole line in some cases. Any feedback would be welcomed. =)
*The raven just happens to be my favorite bird, and a poem about one is long overdue. Although dark and somewhat gruesome I feel that this will be what I want it to be.
I think this new photo is more befitting of this poem.
*Credit to the artist.

Reviews

[Elliot Kyron]

Very good piece. I loved the last stanza especially: "He never stays dead for very long,
his body revived through raven song.
In his small murder he is the lead,
assisting the gone who are in need." Perfect ending and great wording for the whole thing! Just one thing. In the first stanza did you mean "too absurd"? "to" doesn't seem to fit. Other than that, I adored it!

[Gionelly Kiss]

Interesting poem. You have paralleled Edgar Allan Poe's poem "The Raven" in your own words, your own unique style. Wonderful use of rhythm and rhyme scheme. One question in particular about this in the last line of the second stanza where you wrote, "How fitting a graveyard be his home,with plenty of food he never roam," I believe roam should be roams to go with subject-verb agreement but if you left it like this for the rhyme scheme its fine and acceptable. Wonderful; keep writing about things you love and trying new poetry forms. :)

[Nancy Lee Shrader]

Very dark, oh so good!

[Hippy]

wonderful i love the thought of this and the raven. this reminds me of a movie i saw a while back very nice