Ravens Over the Block (Version 4)

Intro

Roof tar sticks to my boots like a memory won't let go

Whistle low over the block where the ravens land slow

Grandfather's key still warm from the fire in my palm

Some men keep a Bible, I keep a coop and a psalm

Verse

Tar roof cracked like a knuckle under August heat

Grandfather's coop built from crates and chicken wire, complete

He'd whistle low, the birds would drop from the gray like rain

Said every pigeon that returns is proof against the pain

Ravens sat the wire since before I learned to walk

Never touched the coop, just watched us, black as scorched chalk

He banded wings with numbers, kept a chart in ink

Said the block will test you, birds will show you how to think

Feed bucket rusted, still I filled it every dawn

Watched him die in autumn, kept the whistle going on

Buried him with feathers folded soft against his chest

Told the ravens circling low he finally got his rest

Roof key on my neck now, cold against my skin

Coop door creaks the same song that it always sings

Learned the difference early between loyal and for show

Pigeons always find the roof, ravens just watch below

Chorus

Ravens over the block, circling what we lost

They perch upon the wire and count the hidden cost

I keep the coop lit, teach