A crow carrying a pine cone
larger than its body
flapped its black wings
as it flew among the trees.

Others called out
hoarse encouragement
fluttering from branch
to leafy branch.

The effort seemed enormous
but meaningless
as I turned back
to the blank page before me.

Patrick Flanigan, from Milk and Coffee
(Monterey, CA: Pacific Grove Publishing, 2002).
Posted by kind permission of the poet.