Know Thy Crow

Crows everywhere are as black as one another.
—Chinese Proverb

Like the shadow of your shadow
The crow stalking constantly behind you is
No other than the soul of your other self
Visiting you from a quasi parallel universe

Winged with the feathers of benighted spirits
It has a deep darkness-filled throat, trying
To summon every bit of your inner being
In the name of Raum or Jingwei*

Horror Vacui

Even in this very moment
    My mind is full
    Of struggling presences
Such is
    Always the case:
    The moment its door opens
It is infused with whims & wishes
I stop to squeeze out
    Each bubbling perception
But it always returns in a deformed form
To occupy the vacated room
    Which has held part of me
You long to become mindful
    Of a spiritual vacuum
    Yet it never allows for
The briefest moment
  of emptiness

*Raum is a figure known in demonology as the Great Earl of Hell, depicted as a crow. Jingwei is a goddess from Chinese mythology who drowned while playing in the Eastern Sea, after which she took a bird’s form.