“Joe and the Crow” by Michael Sauvé
Poetry Pause is the League of Canadian Poets’ daily poetry dispatch. Read “Joe and the Crow” by Michael Sauvé , part of the League’s Fresh Voices program.
Joe and the Crow
By Michael Sauvé
5 miles east of Parkland, Alberta, 1925
for my grandfather, who taught a crow to swear
To teach her to talk and to tell
Joe took his tongue to the crow
cast curses both grim and fell
their lessons in hail and snow.
Joe took his tongue to the crow
his familiar spoke ever faster
their lessons in hail and snow
she practised on posts round the pasture.
His familiar spoke ever faster
she repeated the words of the spells
and practised on posts round the pasture
she clicked and she clacked and rang bells.
She repeated the words of the spells
by all the saints she blasphemed
she clicked and she clacked and rang bells
made magpies come listen and dream.
By all the saints she blasphemed
cast curses both grim and fell
made magpies come listen and dream
to teach them to talk and to tell.
Copyright © Michael Sauve
Michael Sauvé is a writer and educator who lives on Treaty 7 territory. He is working on his first collection of poetry, which combines his reflections on the land in which he lives and stories he has gathered from historical records connected to his family in Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, and Québec.
Fresh Voices is a publication and workshop program created by and for the League’s associate members, curated and edited by Erin Vance.
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