WHOSE WOODS THESE WERE
“If we could reason with the crows
it might not help us, but who knows?”
Thus Sunnyvale’s embattled Mayor.
They’ve tried all sorts of things, but there
The crows still are, and will remain.
So far, all efforts are in vain.
The sidewalks will stay coated white.
The skies will darken every night
As countless crows fly home to roost.
The citizens must just get used
To living with an alien species.
But it’s not just the noise and feces.
It’s that crows ought to understand
who owns and should control the land.
What makes them think they have a stake
in what they rudely seek to take
That isn’t theirs? Why don’t they flock
to garbage on some other block?
What makes them think they own the bowers
we’ve planted here, that should be ours!
Let them beware. We will resort
to stronger means. We’ll go to Court,
Throw Nature out, with all her minions!
Though they’ve a right to their opinions.
—from Poets Respond
January 23, 2022
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Bruce Bennett: “This story about crows taking over Sunnyvale, California, caught my eye because I live near Auburn, New York, which has been facing this same problem for years. Auburn seems to have tried everything, including a crow hunt at one point, but nothing has worked. Although one doesn’t necessarily root for the crows, it’s not too much of a stretch to see the issue from the crows’—and perhaps Nature’s—point of view. Plus, it hasn’t been bad publicity for Auburn, and it does provide quite a spectacle!” (web)
