Saturday.  A large raven raucously speaks
near our cabin, from its perch on the tall hemlock.
I’m almost certain it’s the same bird that was hanging around
last week when my son was born.
All seemed fine until my sister-in-law said
that Jane’s baby was in breech, all turned around and stuck.
That’s when the raven first squawked at me, as I ran
to my skiff and pulled it along the gravel beach.
I had to get across the bay to fetch old Doc Jackson.
The raven told me that once the bay had covered the world
except for a single mountaintop where the people stayed.
I frowned and raced my skiff across the calm sea,
bringing the doctor back within the hour.
I busied myself with chopping wood and pacing while
the raven told me how he once sang to a giant clam shell
and a creature emerged with long black hair but no feathers.
I scolded the raven, telling him that every song
was not always about him.  He tilted his head.
I sharpened my axe and brought fresh water from the stream.
Soon my son’s cries replaced the sounds of chopping, and 
I held him in my arms, and I looked in his eyes.
The raven told me that once he had become a pine needle
consumed by the daughter of the guardian of light,
and then the daughter gave birth to the raven
who played with a ball of light and vanished.
I laid the baby in his mother’s arms and said 
to the raven, “I have a son.”  The raven flew away.
Now the raven has returned and speaks
near our cabin, from its perch on the tall hemlock.
He steals the fish that I put in the smoker, hides my watch, 
talks too much and too loudly when Jane tries to sleep.
The raven tells me that he made Seagull drop his box,
and the sun, and the moon, and the stars came out to shine.
I smile and nod and listen to his stories, and he tilts his head
when I tell him, “I have a son.”  He flies away, but
I know he’ll return when he has more to say. 

[Mark Arvid White lives and writes in Alaska, and has had his poems, stories, and more appear in publications such as: New Myths, Sparks of Calliope, Cerasus Magazine, Infinity Wanderers, Alien Skin, and others online or in print.]