Ravens

Ravens
Theodora Goss

Some men are actually ravens.

Oh, they look like men.
Some of them in suits,
some of them in shirts embroidered
with the names of baseball teams,
some in uniforms, fighting in wars we only see
on television.
But underneath, they are ravens.
Look carefully, and you will find their skins of feathers.

Once, I fell in love with a raven man.
I knew that to keep him I had to take his skin,
his skin of feathers, long and black as night,
like ebony, tarmac, licorice, black holes.
I found it (he had taken it off to play baseball)
and hid it in the attic.

He was mine for seven years.

( I had to make promises )

You only need to know two things about the royal wedding

1. The verger does cartwheels down the red carpet, post-ceremony.

and

2. Julia Gillard did Australia proud by wearing a respectably bizarre hat.