Loyal

“Loyal”

the beastly mothers named him

because, among his kin,

he soared closest to the barren soil.

*

Shy,

the crestfallen raven never admitted

that he was frightened

by the legend of a falling sky.

*

“Ruthless”

wanderers called his shadow

before they knew

his care for the forsaken.

*

Stranger

to his spiteful nest mates,

too easily shaken

for his fierce and feral keepers.

*

Tenderly

he treated the forlorn serpent,

who had been devastated

by an undeserved tragedy.

*

Guilty

he was of gifting the scavenged eye

to tuskless mother boar, despite

the prior owner’s uncertain passing.

*

Sorrowfully,

he learned the ancient eye

was the only that could unbind

the curse bewitching the serpent’s body.

*

Traitor

the Unkindness marked him

after guiding his slithering friend

to the family’s cliffside shelter.

*

Fearless,

he reclaimed the serpent’s eye,

and the woman’s body reformed, a bird-like

revenant.

*

Defensive,

envious leopard and one-eyed boar

abandoned the unbelonging pair

and, down into the hungry valley, retreated.

*

“Loyal,”

Priestess sang while the others

flew away, and he remained perched

atop her raw-boned knuckles, at home.

***

Hello, again, wanderer!

This poem was crafted to pair with the following poem:

These are both a part of the ongoing collection Westward. Other pieces in this collection are:

If you enjoy interconnected poetry collections, you may also want to check out my ongoing collection Queen of the Gulls:

xoxo,

for now,

-your friend lost in thought