Building A Better Scarecrow

Begin with a single stitch.
Take a switch of willow
and tie it to a stone.
Weave blades of sawgrass.
Add a crown of hawthorns
on a Sunday morning.

For eyes, two poison berries.
Various feathers for hair.
A mouth like a sinkhole.
Wear a dead man’s jacket.

Next, enter the cornfield
at the height of August
and plant a fishbone
in the sweltering earth.
Imagine the upstart crows
and a valley of weather.
Place your arms into the air,
as if holding up the moon
or light’s gracile embrace.
Put your mind under this cap.
Dream of thunder and harvests.
With your very first breath,
become someone.

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Bruce McRae, a Canadian musician and multiple Pushcart nominee, has had work appear in hundreds of publications around the world. The winner of the 2020 Libretto Chapbook Prize (20 Sonnets), his books include  The So-Called Sonnets (Silenced Press), An Unbecoming Fit Of Frenzy (Cawing Crow Press) and Like As If (Pskis Porch), all available via Amazon.

[image: Scarecrow Moon | John Carlin]