Scarecrow Listens
These silences I hear, are they not
music? Interspersed with sunlight and
air flowing through fragrant grasses,
insects ticking in the leaves or burrowing
towards moist darkness, and my friends
cawing from their perches, if I arrange
their presence in sequence, perhaps
around the day’s bones, will you
know my spirit? And when I interweave
these tunes, independent and unrelated,
shaping them into one separate melody,
will you recognize its heart and shiver
to the beat? Ornette Coleman freed
his playing, celebrating the territories
of the unmeasurable, the unnamed. The
real is, no matter what you call it. Take
this leaf and place it atop three others.
What have you? And what am I if not
a gathering of the unwanted, scraps
melded to serve a thought-free purpose,
another’s need. Fleshless, boneless,
breathless, bloodless, I know only
that I am; having no ears, still I listen.
“Scarecrow Listens” first appeared with two companion pieces in Eclectica in summer 2016.
O at the Edges 
i recall the aside to Coleman. Glad too see this poem again.
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Thanks, Daniel. The urge to pen another scarecrow poem is growing…
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I love this.
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Thanks, Tami. Another scarecrow poem found a home this week – “Scarecrow Sings the High Lonesome” will be in the next issue of Crannog.
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When I get settled in my new house and carve out my writing space, I’m going to print your scarecrow series onto really nice backgrounds and hang them around my space. I love the tone of them and the anthropomorphic questioning of the scarecrow. I’ll scatter some crow and raven pictures among the poems so Scarecrow doesn’t feel too out of place indoors.
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Scarecrow would appreciate that (I certainly do)!
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John Cage is smiling. (and me too) (K)
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I hadn’t thought of Cage, but yes, he’d definitely find the music in those silences. Thank you, Kerfe.
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I LOVE the stacked leaves bit. Brilliant! Ornette would have loved it too.
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You’ve made my day, Daniel! Thank you.
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I love the scarecrow’s ability to listen to the silence between the sounds.
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I think Scarecrow finds much to ponder in that silence.
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I think Scarecrow could teach me a lot about self-knowledge and the acceptance of one’s nature and truth. He has gained a lifelong listener in me…
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Scarecrow is much wiser than I.
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I am fast becoming a big fan of your poetry. Couldn’t help but read this one over and over. Love it!
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I am honored, Betty. Thank you.
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I like the affirmation of the real in this poem: perception winning out over fantasy reads freshly. Cheers
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Thanks, Laurie. It’s sometimes difficult to see what is, as opposed to what we wish to see.
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Amazing piece! I mean, truly great writing.. loved it!!
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Thank you!
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Hard to think of a more worthy spiritual guide than a scarecrow (especially one conversant in jazz); and I love that he speaks of the crows as his friends.
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I agree, SJ. Who better?
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The unmeasurable has a life of its own, and I think that Scarecrow has at least a small measure of it.
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Scarecrow thinks a lot…
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very nice piece
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Thanks very much.
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I was told your scarecrow poems were good. That seems to be the case.
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I’m so pleased it seems so. Thank you.
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