Raven Appropriates My Father

By Mistee St. Clair

March. His birthday arrives 
            and he is surprised by his own pulse. 
                        The snow spreads across the valley, 

but the willows will soon blossom 
            their soft fur before leafing. 
                        Thaw after thaw 

will free the river’s pent power. 
            All around there is energy. 
                        For now, the cancer unbodied. 

But what is left? 
            He is still full of dark matter. 
                        His whole life 

he’s shaped the land 
            or made something from nothing. 
                        Whistled and sworn

while the hammer sounds,
            even nailed a few caskets
                        for those who were good to him.

He doesn’t seem to know 
            he’s always been searching 
                        for the end of darkness. 

Only that he was claimed 
            by the raven he killed forty years ago. 
                        He’s been waiting. He should follow.

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Mistee St. Clair was born and raised in Alaska. She is the author of the chapbook. This Morning is Different, forthcoming August 2021. Her relation to place, ancestors, family, and the weather influence her writing. She lives in a temperate rainforest in Juneau, Alaska, and can be found at misteestclair.com.

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