How Doth The Shadow Lie

• Alice Walton, Grade 4, St Mary's Anglican Girl's School
• Poetry
• 2010

2nd in the 'Word Express 2010' competition

How doth the shadow lie,
People listen to the crow’s cry,
For he knows the sadness that spreads among his eaves,
In the rustling of the whispering leaves.

His cloaks black, his feathers fine,
He fly’s ahead of the waiting time,
For he knows what sadness seeks,
It seeks tears like raindrops at its highest peak.

Rain poured and splashed down,
Mist seethed over the waiting town,
People lifted up their heads and prayed,
Wreaths of flowers were constantly laid.

For only the crow knew who in the war had died,
He knew how many people had fled and cried,
He flew about spreading the mournful news,
And that is why crows are always abused.