Haiku Garden: Lorie Ann Grover

In legend and in literature, ravens get around.  They can be found on every continent and, since ancient times, have featured in cultural lore around the globe.  Most commonly they are symbolized in one of three ways: as a harbinger of death, a prankster, or a prophet.  While most of us are familiar with Edgar Allan Poe's depiction of the raven, William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, Christopher Marlowe, and even J. R. R. Tolkien have also written about this sometimes-stately, sometimes-wily, sometimes-wise, but always-revered bird.

Add Lorie Ann Grover to the list.  In choosing her subject matter, today's special guest to the Haiku Garden is in excellent literary company.  Lorie Ann tells us, "This was a gorgeous raven I happened upon in Ketchikan.  There is no doubt when you finally see a raven that it is not a crow.  He was huge!"  She's right, of course.  When I did a bit of research, I discovered ravens can be over two feet with a wing span of nearly five feet!  They are also highly intelligent birds, as Lorie Ann discovered when she exchanged more than a mere glance with this one.

Seen

We pause to peer with

round eyes into each other

before we pass by.

© 2013 Lorie Ann Grover.  All rights reserved.

I so admire Lorie Ann's talent for shedding new light on what might otherwise appear commonplace, and for encouraging readers to think about things more deeply, or from a different angle or perspective.  Please visit her blog, On Point: writing through life, to read more of her thought-provoking haiku and to discover her other talents as an author/illustrator.  Lorie Ann is also the co-founder of the award-winning readergirlz, a literacy and social media project for teens, and of readertotz, raising the profile of board books for the youngest readers.

Thank you for providing us with today's little ditty, Lorie Ann!  It's a pleasure having you here.