Messenger Poem by Shirley Harrison

I just wasn't prepared

I mean I'd read about it

I'd even seen others experience it

but me? I just wasn't prepared

I guess I never thought It would happen to me

but here I was sitting in perfect peace

minding my own business

when suddenly

the Raven appeared

Paralyzing me, I couldn't help but stare

See, he's a fascinating bird

black as death itself

and his voice carries a magnificent crowing sound

over landscape of a thousand miles

and I suspect eternity?

appearing on my ledge uninvited

accepting his being

no noise just silence

time had suddenly stopped

this raven was only present for a moment

and as he picked up his eerie feathers

no doubt off to face his next victim

I knew...

I knew...

in that split second

my entire life

was about to changed forever

and it did

because my friends

this type of sorrow

is truly unpreparable.