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This writing was accepted for publication in the 108 page perfect-bound ISSN# / ISBN# issue/book... “Waterlogged” Down in the Dirt, v144 (the April 2017 Issue) You can also order this 6"x9" issue as a paperback book:

Order this writing in the book Study in Black the Down in the Dirt July-Dec. 2016 collection book		get the 418 page Jan.-April 2017 Down in the Dirt issue anthology 6" x 9" ISBN# paperback book:

Order this writing in the book the 2018 literary review date book (the 2017 poetry, flash fiction and artwork weekly paperback book)		get the 146 page poem, flash fiction & art weekly planner as a 6" x 9" ISBN# paperback book:

Ravens

Raven J. Cole

My mouth opens and a million black ravens
free fall from my lips
I always wave goodbye and smile them away,
feathered mouth and all

They won’t come back
but that’s probably for the best
new ones will arrive any moment
with the rustle of uneasy wings
and dark sounds that get stuck at the back of my throat

I didn’t even know that my mouth was big enough
to accommodate all these fucking birds

and did you know that the collective noun for a group of ravens
is an unkindness?

An unkindness of Ravens
lives in me
and I don’t know how to get them all to leave
they have nestled in the shadowy cracks of my teeth
claimed my body as home
sometimes their call is the only reminder that I still exist

My mouth opens and unkindness free falls from my lips
launches into the heart of anyone standing too close
They tilt their heads and stare at me
and I am spitting feathered apologies
and promises with an iridescent sheen

I can’t remember when the birds showed up
maybe they have always been here
waiting for me to open my mouth

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