Welcome to Day 9 of the WATCH “RWISA” Write Showcase Blog Tour!
Today, I welcome Author, Mary A. Adler to my humble abode!
BLACK NOTES BEAT
Mary A. Adler
I have studied and observed crows for years, and the more I’ve learned about them, the more I admire their complex family and flock relationships. They are intelligent, create and use tools, and they teach their skills to other crows. As Rev. Henry Ward Beecher said, “If men had wings and bore black feathers, few of them would be clever enough to be crows.”
Over the years, I have told my family and friends more than they ever wanted to know about crows. One person said, after hearing the stories I told about them, that she stopped trying to run crows down with her car. (There is so much wrong with that statement, that I don’t know where to begin.)
During the non-nesting period of the year, crows gather at night to roost together, sometimes in flocks of thousands. They are stealthy and take a roundabout way to the roosting place. They have good reason to be wary. For decades, humans have killed them, even dynamiting their roosting places at night.
Like many natural creatures, they are good and bad, depending on your viewpoint, and not everyone appreciates their beauty. But I love to watch them streaming across the sky–one small group after another–as they return from foraging to join the flock. When they are together, those who have found a safe source of food will tell the others where it is. They share, but only within their own flock.
One evening, after watching them move across the sky, I wrote this:
Black Notes Beat
Black notes beat
Unfurling dusk
Across the bruising sky.
Quarter notes, half notes
Rise and fall.
Whole notes
Rest on treetops.
An arpeggio of eighth notes
Silently swirls,
Scribing a nocturne
in the fading light.
Softly they spill
to the nighttime roost:
Rustling,
murmuring,
settling,
hushed.
Now the still moment,
the last note fading,
No bows, no curtsies,
No fear of reviews.
They need no applause to perform their works.
THE END
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We ask that you also check out their books in the RWISA or RRBC catalogs. Thanks, again, for your support and we hope that you will follow each member along this amazing tour of talent! Don’t forget to click the link below to learn more about this author:
Please take a minute to check out Mary’s newest book, Shadowed by Death!
Blurb:
San Francisco, 1944. Sophia Nirenska, a Polish resistance fighter who survived the Warsaw ghetto uprising, finds safety in California until someone tries to kill her. She insists political enemies want to silence her, but homicide detective Oliver Wright, on medical leave from the Marines, believes the motive is more personal. He and his German shepherd, Harley, try to protect Sophia, but she insists on doing things her own way—a dangerous decision.
Oliver guards Sophia as they travel from an Italian cafe in Richmond to communist chicken farmers in Petaluma where her impetuous actions put them both in mortal danger.
When Oliver rescues a girl and her dog who are running for their lives, he discovers the dark secret at the heart of the threat to Sophia, a secret with its roots in Poland. When he does, he is forced to choose between enforcing the law as he knows it and jeopardizing Sophia or accepting a rougher kind of justice.
Shadowed by Death accurately portrays the fears and troubles of the communities of northern California as they bear the burdens of World War II and celebrate the gift of finding family among strangers.
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I love animals and that includes crows. I’ve known of their intelligence for a while now and I believe they’ve always gotten a bad rap. They’re beautiful birds and one of the most intelligent. Thanks for speaking on their behalf.
I have your book, In The Shadow of Lies in my Kindle and I’ll get around to reading it soon. Thanks for hosting, Jan! <3
What a lovely comment, Vashti!! I agree with you about the Crows. I believe they are also messenger birds and can travel between worlds. 🙂 Thanks for stopping by!
That’s very interesting, Jan. 🙂
Jan, thank you so much for hosting me. You are a wonderfully supportive person!!
My pleasure, Mary!
Blackbirds have a bad reputation, because people don’t understand them. Your informative post was wonderful. Thank you for hosting, Jan.
Thank you, Karen, I find it sad how often we make judgments about things we don’t understand at all. And then the misunderstandings spread.
That is SO true, Karen! Thank you for stopping by and supporting Mary!
I love these birds and have a trio living on our property that are very entertaining. Wonderful poem about them.
Thanks for hosting Jan.
Oh how cool, Denise!! I’m happy you stopped by!
You are so fortunate to have them, Denise. I’ve spent many hours watching them — time well spent I think. 🙂
Thank you for stopping by and leaving a comment, Linda!
Very interesting bit of information about crows. The poem was beautiful. Thanks for hosting, Jan.
Thank you for your kind comment, Linda. By the way, I love your photo. You look so warm.
Thanks, Mary! Your photo is one of my favs, too!🤗
Thank you, Jan for hosting Mary, Today.
My pleasure, John! I’m happy you stopped in!
Thank you for coming by, John.
Jan, I loved learning about Mary and reading her poem here … wonderful with a great sense of rhythm … ending with calm and peace.
I agree, Annika! Thanks so much for dropping in! I’ve missed you! Hugs!
Thank you, Annika. It is good to meet you. I am so pleased by your remark about the sense of rhythm. All our days should end with calm and peace. 🙂
This is a fascinating post. Thank you for hosting, Jan. I knew nothing about crows and now I want to know more. I love Mary’s beautiful poem. Its ending, “the last note fading…”, brings me into silence. ♥
Thank you for visiting, Gwen. Yes, I learned more about Crows from Mary’s post. I have to ponder the idea that maybe the Crow is her Totem Animal. 🙂
Thank you, Gwen! Your comment is so responsive to my intention. 🙂
Loved the information about crows, Mary, and the poetry was fantastic! I once read an article about an experiment where people wearing masks would harass (not the nicest thing to do), a group of crows. Years later, they came back wearing the same masks and the crows immediately became agitated. They returned some time later, without the masks, and the crows had no reaction. Thank you for sharing this, Jan.
What an interesting tidbit of info about the Crows, Mark! And they refer to unintelligent people as “bird-brain.” 🙂 Thanks for visiting today!
I loved the poem, Mary. 😃
Jan, thanks for hosting.
I read about that, too, Mark. They are amazing creatures.
Mark, I think I first read that in King Solomon’s Ring by Konrad Lorenz who did work on imprinting in animals and won a Nobel prize, I think. It is a wonderful book if you are interested in animals.
Thanks Mary, I may have a look at that book.