Sunday 26 July 2020

Rooks






Dear Reader,



I have always been aware and interested in rooks (see poem) and have found a little bit about them to share with you.  The rook is a member of the crow family in the passerine order of birds. Its range can be found extending from Scandinavia and western Europe to eastern Siberia. 

Rooks form flocks in winter, often in the company of other Corvus species or jackdaws.  They are generally regarded as bad luck and a large group of rooks arriving in an area is said to be unlucky.  If rooks desert a rookery then a calamity could occur.  They gather together at night to roost in a spot where they have good visibility and reasonable shelter.

Rooks are intelligent birds as in lab-based studies have tested their ability to solve problems and use tools. The rook is a member of the Corvid or crow family which is famed for its intelligence.

                                                                         *

Francis and I really had an adventure this week.  We sat outside a small restaurant in the sunshine and had a delicious lunch and a cool drink of white wine. It was such a treat since we had been nowhere, outside our house, for nearly five months.   I had nearly forgotten what fun it is to eat out and, more particularly,
not have to do the washing up. I hope there will be more outings to come before the second wave engulfs us.
                                                                           *

Rooks

I was fourteen
when I first heard
the call of the rooks
caw-cawing
their eerie cries.

From a Cornish cottage garden
I walked down through
dark woods to the beach,
a remote place,
just dunes, sand, the sea
and me, a confused, angry teenager,
with the rooks caw-cawing in my ears
disturbing my thoughts.

Even now, in later years,
whenever I hear whispers from the wind,
or sea lapping over large grey stones
ever forward, ever backward,
glimpse a faraway horizon
and see twilight descending
darkening the sky,
the rooks in large black groups
flying high towards
their evening bed,
cawing, cawing, cawing,
my heart misses a beat
and an unexplained sadness
overcomes me.

                                                                           *

Very best wishes, Patricia

1 comment:

  1. I love the poem about the rooks!

    Glad you've managed to have your hair cut. Mine got very long too.

    The Kitchen clean made me smile.

    Lots of love

    Sue xx

    ReplyDelete