Laurie Klein Reads Resume & Elementary

Editor’s Note: “Poems to Listen By” is an audio series where over time we will explore some of the themes in the Poet Laura checklist, as well as Tweetspeak’s “Perspective” theme throughout 2022.

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Poems to Listen By: Black Bird Soirée—Elementary

Presented by Laurie Klein

Welcome to “Poems to Listen By.” I’m your host, Laurie Klein, here to launch our new series: “Black Bird Soirée.”

Picture with me a virtual villa, at twilight: fireflies, sweet and salty hors d’oeuvres, intriguing beverages, and kindred spirits, all of us gathered near French doors opened to birdsong. No matter the actual hour you listen, we’ll sample the quirks and charisma of crows and starlings, blackbirds, magpies and ravens—and those who watch them.

Crows are one of our planet’s brightest species, the cognitive equals of apes and dolphins. Poet Megan Willome, using the acrostic C.R.O.W.S., created a witty curriculum vitae.

Resume

Convoke in ancient trees.
Ride pigs for kicks.
Opine while looping on the breeze.
War with straws and sticks.
Slide down snowy banks. Never say please.

—Megan Willome

Sledding? Actually, yes: in Russia, crows have been filmed coasting down roofs on plastic lids and body-sledding on those golden onion domes.

Opportunist crows are also acutely attuned to time. Near Puget Sound, Washington, they synchronize meal prep with local ferry schedules. During the half hour before the boat docks, they drop clams in the open lane. After disembarking vehicles crush the shells, the birds feast on the meat, to the amusement of those in the boarding lane.

In the next poem, a few of Megan’s crows flaunt their early schooling.

Elementary

We crows, we all attend crow school
and follow different crow-style rules.

Take field trips to the parking lots
and dare the cars to take our spots.

In music class we sing off-key,
our voices cawing lustily.

During math we count our stash
and show each trinket with panache.

We preen ourselves and call it art,
parading before the mini-mart.

And for our test, we have to swipe
a treasure fine, metallic and bright.

—Megan Willome

You’ve just heard “Resume” and “Elementary,” by Megan Willome. I’m Laurie Klein. Thanks for listening.

Photo by Kasturi Roy on Unsplash. Audio and script by Laurie Klein. Musical performance, recording, and mastering, by Bill Klein. “Resume” and “Elementary” by Megan Willome, from Rainbow Crow: Poems In and Out of Form, T.S. Poetry Press. Used by permission. 

Browse more children’s poetry

“Megan Willome has captured the essence of crow in this delightful children’s collection. Not only do the poems introduce the reader to the unusual habits and nature of this bird, but also different forms of poetry as well.”

—Michelle Ortega, poet and children’s speech pathologist

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Laurie Klein

Laurie Klein inherited her mother's passion for reading aloud. Despite mispronouncing "manure" in Mrs. Englebert's 4th grade class—to hooting derision from classmates as she read Charlotte's Web—she later pursued Theatre Arts at Whitworth University, in Spokane, Washington. "Can you teach me to play 100 characters?" she asked. They did. To this day, Professor Emeritus Pat Stien (now 93), continues to mentor Laurie (soon-to-be 69). As with writing, one never masters the art. Laurie's performance credits stateside and abroad include plays, one-woman shows, storytelling events, poetry readings, audiobooks, videos, and spoken word recordings for albums and public radio.

Latest posts by Laurie Klein (see all)

• Poems to Listen By: Yondering—1: H. G. Who? - October 9, 2024
• Poems to Listen By: Buoyancies—7: The Survivor Rises - August 28, 2024
• Poems to Listen By: Buoyancies—6: Trust - July 3, 2024