dark news
the comfort
of crows

Published by

Alan Summers

Alan Summers has been filmed by NHK Television (Japan) for the feature “Europe meets Japan - Alan's Haiku Journey.” He’s a Trailblazer Contest 2024 winner for an experimental haikai verse, and a winner of the Bournemouth Writing Festival 2024 (Poetry and Flash Fiction) for haibun. His current passion is retrospective recipes including 1970s France, Britain, and Italy. Alan is the founding editor of The Pan Haiku Review: https://www.callofthepage.org/the-pan-haiku-review/

47 thoughts on “”

    1. Hi Alexis,

      Yes, crows are big in Japan! I didn't see many other types of birds on the quick coach drive with NHK, but I always saw crows. :-)

      warm regards,

      Alan

      Reply

  3. Comfort of a warning or a blessing? Love this Alan, the alliteration, the sparse syllables, the magic.

    Reply

    1. Hi Mary,

      I love crows and it's wonderful they are in so many different countries. :-)

      It was at the time of a great life-threatening invisible illness, and I was on an art course feeling very vulnerable. I went for a long walk during the lunch break and this crow just stayed with me in a very dark time, giving me company, solace, and hope.

      They've always been a wonderful bird to me, so companionable and yet this one particular crow, not the few others near by, that went the extra mile and empathised with me.

      I've had this privilege just a few times in my life with animals. This is my way of thanking that crow, and all the other animals during my life that connected with me. I become very humbled, and that's healthy.

      warmest regards,

      Alan

      Reply

    1. Thanks Andrea!

      Most of my haiku come from direct experience, and I'm glad this is working for readers.

      I wasn't sure because there appears to be a strong notion around crows (centuries and centuries old) that they are bad creatures and omens of ill things to come. They are far more than that, with their witty and intelligent behaviour. :-)

      warm regards,

      Alan

      Reply

    1. Thanks Peggy :-)

      It's a blessing we have crows, part of a large caretaker group of animals clearing up after humans in particular. :-)

      warm regards,

      Alan

      Reply

  11. Good work, the intimate tangle of things.

    Light thickens; and the crow
    Makes wing to the rooky wood:
    Good things of day begin to droop and drowse;
    While night's black agents to their preys do rouse.
    – Macbeth

    Reply

    1. That Shakespeare knew his words. :-)

      Thank goodness for rooky woods everywhere though, and the companionship that crows give to the world, and as part of a team of caretakers, especially when humans create so much mess.
      :-)

      warm regards,

      Alan

      Reply

  12. I read this first thing this morning and it has been with me all day. An excellent example of the sheer power that can be captured in the tiniest of poems. It is haiku like this one that drew me into the haiku world, and it is haiku like this one that keeps me here, yearning to write . . . haiku like this one. Big smiles, Alan – a jewel!

    Reply

    1. Hi Billie! :-)

      Just that first sentence blew me away, thank you! :-)

      And then I read another sentence and another one.

      I am over the moon that this haiku has worked, given the subject of crows, and that the Tiny Words editors accepted it. It just keeps reminding me that editors can do so much for a writer, and for readers.

      It's why I keep coming back to Tiny Words, not just to submit my own work, but be able to comment on so many varied and wonderful works here.

      Your comments are so kind, and encouraging, especially as it's another dark time for me, but not my own personal health this time.

      warm regards,

      Alan

      Reply

  19. A friend, who has written and published haku, but is rather literal-minded wrote me about this haiku:
    I have no idea what this means. How are crows comforting? Maybe if the poet used his other 10 syllables he could tell us.

    I replied:
    Paraphraseable content
    Crushing winter storm.

    She replied:

    I think I'm finally beginning to get this. The crows are comforted, not comforting?

    I replied:

    For me, yes, the crows are comforted, and comforting -; they are also the dark news -; they are the messengers of death carrying
    irony in their beaks -; they are the drones of Wotan -;they hover in the sky like black clouds -; they call to mind Macbeth,

    They are all those things together & more. That’s the poignancy .

    Reply

    1. Hi Dirk,

      It's been surprising but quite a few women, (poets and non-poets), have told me that they find crows comforting.

      I just think of crows as part of a huge caretaker crew for tidying up the planet, which with human consumption, has increased somewhat. :-)

      The dark news could be any dark news we receive, whether family, friends, the news of constant conflict reported or spun via TV and rest of the media, or something personal.

      That morning as I prepared to leave for another city, for an Arts course, I was throwing up blood when I had a shower.

      Before I phoned my wife, during the Arts Business lunch break, I felt very alone, and although I've accepted death before in moments of danger, I was very sad, as I wasn't enjoying the arts course, and felt isolated.

      Sometimes it takes a creature that isn't human, and not one of the obvious creatures, like a dog for example, to share some empathy. Crows are extremely intelligent, and have a sense of humor which can double as sensitivity in some creatures.

      See: Crow Country by Mark Cocker (ISBN: 9780224076012)

      For some reason, despite perhaps half a dozen crows around, on the patch of green by the city council's building, just going on pecking at the grass, this lone crow just kept close. I experienced company, and great comfort, from this single crow, and I didn't feel alone and isolated as much.

      This gave me the courage to phone my wife, who told me to get to see a doctor ASAP and made an appointment. Oddly enough the first doctor didn't do much, but the next day the second doctor, almost breaking into a sweat, immediately put me onto medication. I had a lift-threatening illness that in itself is also a sign of something else too.

      After a few months I was completely clear (October 2014) but I've never forgotten the comfort of crows.

      I've just been given permission to post up onto my Area 17 blog about the remarks made by a published haiku and renku writer, and her Aunt, who isn't a poet but loves crows, how it comforted them that day they saw this haiku go up.

      Thanks for your wonderful post! :-)

      warmest regards,

      Alan

      Reply

  21. I am fascinated by this haiku though I don’t really understand it very thoroughly. I had pet jackdaws as a child and still feel an affinity with the crow family. This haiku helps me revisit this experience.

    Reply

    1. Hi Paul,
      .
      re:
      .
      dark news
      the comfort
      of crows

      —ALAN SUMMERS
      .
      Due to an amazing email exchange I will be posting this up onto my Area 17 blog next week. I hope that might help.
      .
      I don't know if you looked at my previous replies, but basically it was a very dark time for me after coughing up blood, expecting to have something terminal.
      .
      I was a participant in an arts business course that I wasn't enjoying, and feeling isolated. Something I don't like happen to others when I'm running art events.
      .
      I went out for a lunch break, wandering around, near the green by the city council building (that has unicorns on its roof), and a crow, one in particular, singled me out, and accompanied me, kept close.
      .
      I genuinely felt moved and comforted, and my burden was lightened. I decided to phone my wife, who immediately told me to get home and go straight to the doctors.
      .
      I had treatment and recovered later last year.
      .
      warm regards,
      Alan

      Reply

  22. Hi Paul,
    .
    re:
    .
    dark news
    the comfort
    of crows

    —ALAN SUMMERS
    .
    Due to an amazing email exchange I will be posting this up onto my Area 17 blog next week. I hope that might help.
    .
    I don't know if you looked at my previous replies, but basically it was a very dark time for me after coughing up blood, expecting to have something terminal.
    .
    I was a participant in an arts business course that I wasn't enjoying, and feeling isolated. Something I don't like happen to others when I'm running art events.
    .
    I went out for a lunch break, wandering around, near the green by the city council building (that has unicorns on its roof), and a crow, one in particular, singled me out, and accompanied me, kept close.
    .
    I genuinely felt moved and comforted, and my burden was lightened. I decided to phone my wife, who immediately told me to get home and go straight to the doctors.
    .
    I had treatment and recovered later last year.
    .
    warm regards,
    Alan,

    Reply

  24. This is a thought provoking haiku Alan. It is one top see the "other side" of the crow symbol.
    I very much like where this haiku takes me.
    Dawn

    Reply

    1. Thank you Dawn.

      Crows are like people, there are shades all the way from light to dark. Crows are also the caretakers of the planet, unlike humans, and sometimes the less pretty species are the ones that look after things better.

      Though I would have to say that the crow family is beautiful, and just like other caretakers, we will always need them.

      warmest regards,

      Alan

      Reply

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