Photo Story: Death Rites

Photograph of a melting pond with crows.It took weeks for the ice on the lake to thaw, which made it easier for the body to float to the surface. Preserved by the cold, dressed in a nightgown, this stranger among crows became just another hunk of old meat to be pecked. In a folk tale, the birds might’ve summoned a fairy to bring her back to life with an untranslatable spell and a wand wave, but in this life, they just needed to eat. Over time, she became part of their routine, the landscape of their memory. The crows named her familiar bones, called to her.

 

Kirsten Casey is a California Poet in the Schools and the Poet Laureate of Nevada County. Her poetry collection, Ex Vivo: Out of the Living Body, was published in 2012.

Photographer: Jennifer C.

One Response to “Photo Story: Death Rites”

  1. Maureen says:

    Haunting and beautiful.

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