The Crow's Eye

The man had a good life in his house in the woods
Never to worry
Never to grief
Perfectly content

Him and his family worked together
They built the barn
The house
All handmade

The man was curious about one thing
Every day
Always the same
Unceasing

A crow in the tallest tree was watching
Its gaze steady
Never moving
Always staring

It did not matter if it was night or day
The crow remained
Eyes glinting
In silent malice
Curious, the man investigated the tree
There was no nest
No food
No tracks

The man grew annoyed, and thought it was bad luck
He began planning
Set traps
Made bait

His family was exited for a crow dinner
But it stayed
Watched
Waited

As the man’s fervor and desperation grew
His family worried
Helped
Watched

Until one day, he grabbed his gun
Took aim
The crow watched
He fired


A hit! The crow fell from the tree, limp
He ran
Tripped
Rushed, triumphant

He reached the crow, where it landed
But what he saw
There was nothing
But one thing

One black feather was all that remained on the ground
No crow
No blood
No remains

The man, confused looked back at the tree, and stared
The crow was there
Watching
Waiting

The man was furious, his family was frightened
He stormed
Fumed
Screamed


His family tried to calm him down, but then he snapped
A knife
A thud
A cry

The man looked at his hands, and wondered what he had done
No more dinner
Weeks of work
The crow

The man grabbed his axe, and ran to the tree
He swung
And swung
And cut it down

But as it fell, the crow with it, he looked back at his home once more.
There was no knife
There was no body
There was no blood

The man did not understand. He was confused.
Where were they?
Where was he?
He no longer knew.


And as the crow flew down and landed on the man’s shoulder.
The man realized
He stood alone
In the nothing

There was never anyone else in these woods
A delusion
A wish
A dream.

As the man collapsed on the forest floor, crying
The crow watched
Blinked
And turned.

As the crow flew, the man cursed it, and it looked back
It’s eye glinting
Watching
Cursing

And the man knew no more.