Page 6 - FS January

The Poetry of Kevin Morris
“Lady Raven”

By Vonnie

Winslow Crist

The ravens recognized her face. Even with a knit hat pulled low enough to cover her ears, the corvids bobbed
their heads, croaked, and raised their wings as Raelynn stepped out the door.
“I’ve no bread to give you,” she called to the unkindness. Which wasn’t the truth.
Magic will have to wait a little longer, thought Raelynn as she turned around and went back inside. Amused
by the ravens’ brashness, she grabbed a bag of bread crusts, day-old popcorn, stale sunflower seed hearts,
and half-eaten muffins. After patting the top of her head to make certain her hat hadn’t shifted, Raelynn
walked out of her cottage once more.
The ravens resumed their cacophony. A few bold members of the unkindness swooped down. They landed at
her feet.
“You can’t be that hungry,” she told the five corvids who strutted like a quintet of black-suited mourners
beside her.
One raven hopped in front of Raelynn. Like a demanding child, it said, “Maw!”
“I’m not your mother, my friend,” she responded. “Though I might seem to be from your point of view.”
The five-some inched closer. They studied her with bright eyes as she talked.
“You’re such dears,” she said as she reached her hand inside the sack. “I can’t deny you a snack any longer.”
Raelynn dropped three fistfuls of the bread crumb mixture at her feet for the most audacious corvids. Then,
she tossed handfuls of the raven food onto the nearby grass for shyer members of the unkindness. When the
bag was empty, she stuffed it into her jacket’s pocket.
Stepping carefully around the birds as they gulped their snack, Raelynn hiked into the forest. Footfalls muf-
fled by a thick layer of pine needles, she breathed in the scent of trees, ferns, moss, rotting logs, and earth.
She smiled. Today, seemed a perfect day for her first transformation.
Reaching a clearing next to the headwaters of an icy stream which wound through the woods, below a stone
bridge, then tumbled into Cobble Creek, Raelynn removed three candles from her right pocket. Next, she
pulled a book of matches and a bundle of black feathers from her left pocket.
“Courage,” she told herself as a raven winged his way to the clearing. He landed beside her.
“Maw!” said the bird.
Raelynn shook her head, but didn’t correct the corvid. Instead, she placed the candles in a triangle shape
inside a mushroom circle which had sprouted in the center of the clearing. Second, she removed her hat, al-
lowing two braids adorned with crow and raven feathers to tumble down. Third, she shrugged off her coat to
reveal an ebony dress. Fourth, she lit the candles while chanting:
“Stirred by wild winds within, without,
Deep magic cause feathers to sprout,
And let my changeling wings spread out.”
Next, Raelynn unbound the bundle. She placed a corvid feather between each of her fingers. Finally, kneeling
before the candles upon the last feather, she closed her eyes, spread her arms, and focused on the air swirling
around her.
She whispered the spell once more before surrendering to the whirlwind.
When Raelynn opened her eyes, the raven who’d spoken to her moments before said, “Sister.”
“Yes,” Raelynn Raven answered. “I’m a sister with a mission.”
For natural-born ravens, flight was instinctual. For Raelynn, it required her to recall the basics of flight when
she chose to wear raven-skin.
First, is lift, she thought. Using strong chest muscles, she flapped her wide, beautifully feathered wings. She
knew the shape of her wings caused air to move more quickly over the curved top surface, thereby reducing
the air pressure above the wing. In addition, the tilted angle of her wings deflected air downward.
As she flapped she rose from the ground.
Next, is thrust, she thought. Moving her wings in a motion almost like swimming, she propelled herself for-
ward.
As for the pull of gravity, it was all about weight. A beak weighed less than jaws and teeth. Feathers were
lightweight. Most importantly, raven bones were honeycombed throughout with pockets of air. But unlike the
rest of her unkindness, Raelynn’s bones were filled not just with air, but with magic.
The raven who’d observed her transformation joined her on the highest branch of a towering oak in Raelynn’s
yard. He summoned his four companions to join them.