Crows

I saw a dead, skeleton of a tree with a black, cawing crow atop one summer which inspired this one...

Atop the weathered, dead skeleton of a tree
sits a black form of a crow cawing freely.
Apropos, this lifeless tree -
a perch for this vulture greedy.

Dead, without life, this tree
now a skeleton of what it used to be.
Black, as night, this crow
born to be many creatures unsuspecting foe.

There he sits surveying his kingdom
inbred with an inbuilt wisdom,
searching for a free dinner
as his beady eyes tour.

Caw-caw he loudly yells.
His greediness soon quelled.
This crow once still
spies roadkill.

Spreading his wings
he swoops in
to dine
on his find.

Answering the call of nature,
knowing tomorrow there's more,
while thinning out over-population naturally,
this gluttonous crow fills his greedy belly.

His hunt successful
until tomorrow.
He lifts his wings and flies
off into the gray skies.

* * * * *

Solomon stated there is nothing new under the sun.
From the beginning of time crows have a purpose under the sun.
Something becomes their victim
though that thought isn't welcome.

Despite our best attempts, life isn't always fair.
Many unforeseen circumstances being about despair.
It's life's joys that keep us going
when it seems our boat isn't rowing.

There's a daily choice to make:
do we focus on what we hate
or do we look for what's right
instead of the darkness of night.

Consider the black and white keys of the piano,
producing music, both major and minor together.
Instead of discord, together pleasing to the ears
with more white (major) keys, just as in life appears.

Choose joy.
Enjoy.
Your circumstances are temporary.
Your outlook on life complimentary.

Yes, we live in an evil world.
All around us is discord.
Yet there is joy to be found.
It's what makes the world go round.

From crows
to pianos!
Each has a lesson.
Each is a blessing.

I have seen something else under the sun:
The race is not to the swift
or the battle to the strong,
nor does food come to the wise
or wealth to the brilliant
or favor to the learned;
but time and chance happen to them all.
Moreover, no man knows when his hour will come:
As fish are caught in a cruel net,
or birds are taken in a snare,
so men are trapped by evil times
that fall unexpectedly upon them.
Ecclesiastes 9:11-12

There is something else meaningless that occurs on earth:
righteous men who get what the wicked deserve,
and wicked men who get what the righteous deserve.
This too, I say, is meaningless.
So I commend the enjoyment of life,
because nothing is better for a man under the sun
than to eat and drink and be glad.
Then joy will accompany him in his work all the days of the life
God has given him under the sun.
Ecclesiastes 8:14-15

Here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the whole duty of man.
Ecclesiastes 12:13