Raven

Raven casts a wise look at the ocean...
"See how the color of the water has changed?
How the surf chants more loudly --
how it crashes more violently against the cliff?...
Storm comes...
much bigger than before;
its greenish-gray shadow covers both sea and sky.
Come, let us go find good shelter...
None who watch or tarry before this
will live to tell their tale."

Raven one: Change will come;
Raven two: a Path in view;
Raven three: protecting thee;
Raven four: behold! a Door;
Raven five: a Shift inside;
Raven six: Coyote tricks;
Raven seven: Message from Heaven;
Raven eight: an unlikely Gate;
Raven nine: Self redefined;
Raven ten: an Ancient friend.

Ravens
playing in the snow
--as if no one would peek,
and see the Bird-Tribe Shamans
with snowflakes on their beaks.

Smoke me the Raven,
so I will know
how She balances Chaos
with sacred Crow.

Ravens to the West;
ravens to the East;
ravens in the median;
ravens at a feast:
Some to guard the Path ahead;
some to ward behind;
some to watch my passing-through
as if I were a Sign.

The young Raven stopped in the midst of a swooping game
of toss-and-spin with the westerly Wind,
and settled (quite unsettled)
on the Oak's nearest branch;
a Vision, a Message,
a reach-out-and-shake-your-brains Touch
from the Ancestors, encompassed him;
and he had not even gone on his Quest yet --
not even been initiated
into the Elders' Circle or the Warriors' Guild --
but...
he sure couldn't deny that Touch,
and the U-R-G-E-N-C-Y behind it;
the Circle met tonight,
so he would pass on to them what he had learned...
but he had a feeling
he would no longer be playing toss-and-spin
in childlike innocence, anymore.