Here are glistening crows
that perch on the dragon heads
of the Catholic church on Market.

The bells bong and---startled---
they fly around and around the
steeple, like black wounds in the air

curving, carving the winds with
wings and cries, exiled by God
from eternity into time.

They always return, strutting their wings.
Traffic horns, swears and whistles
of business below do not stir them.

The dragons are their home, but
the bells send them out to their
wheels within wheels, over and again.

They stay the Winter, steal their food,
and call to the sleeping dragons.
Consider the faith of crows.

About the poet: Sean Lause is a professor of English at Rhodes State College in Lima, Ohio. His poems have appeared in The Minnesota Review, Another Chicago Magazine, The Alaska Quarterly, Atlanta Review, The Beloit Poetry Journal, The Pedestal, Illuminations and Poetry International. He has published two books of poetry, Bestiary of Souls (FutureCycle Press, 2013) and Wakeful Fathers and Dreaming Sons (Orchard Street Press, 2018).