Building A Better Scarecrow by Bruce McRae

Begin with a single stitch.

Take a switch of willow

and tie it to a stone.

Weave blades of sawgrass.

Add a crown of hawthorns

on a Sunday morning.

For eyes, two poison berries.

Various feathers for hair.

A mouth like a sinkhole.

Wear a dead man’s jacket.

Next, enter the cornfield

at the height of August

and plant a fishbone

in the sweltering earth.

Imagine the upstart crows

and a valley of weather.

Place your arms into the air,

as if holding up the moon

or light’s gracile embrace.

Put your mind under this cap.

Dream of thunder and harvests.

With your very first breath,

become someone.

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