Raven’s Night (poem)

by Stephen J Frankenberry

(Note: August 28, 2025. I haven’t posted anything to an Open Link Night at dVerse Poets since I discovered the site a year and half ago, but I’ve been reading some of my older things recently, often just to reset myself a bit, get in the right frame, while working something new and was reminded of this one, the second response to a prompt I contributed after my dVerse discovery. It was the coolest of prompts)

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So, at a newly found for me “Poet’s Pub” of a site, dVersepoets.com, I came across a post that had a prompt to write what it refers to as a poetic Quadrille, a 44 word poem (not including the title) but in this prompt it said you need include the word “pinch” in any way you saw fit.

This I did and it is the most recent post in the Attic here, “Don’t Pinch Me”.

Well, came across another poem prompt yesterday that asked that you write a prequel for a character from literature.

Write a poem that is a prequel to a particular character from a nursery rhyme, Aesop’s fable, book , mythology etc.  

And the responses that I have read thus far to this prompt are so imaginative and colorful and haunting that I can’t wait to finish them all.

But for me, after running through a few possibilities in my head, I thought to Edgar Allen Poe and the Raven and of the Raven himself.

.

Raven’s Night

I am not dead nor demon to be read or written of

I implore you open your door

or window

shutter’s curtains

flitting

with welcome inside out air

and any manner of candlelit care

with which to let me see your floor

please

just to walk that floor

or even alight that door

that I implore

again

you

to open

outside no place for me tonight

in weary last vestige of now blustery light

that casts shadows that scare me from flight

and I don’t scare

for I am Raven

confused of crow brethren

curse-ed cousins

but stronger than they even as they crow foot in a murder of friends

what they needs simple

with simples ends

while I seek only solitude and to depart nights

now

tired of taking flight in dark

reputation

just a me to be me but I am scared of he

and what I no longer want see

in the dim

even eves with path clear in crisp moonlight

but worse on nights like  

these

this

this one

this night at hand

and I see your light

window

harks

a place maybe to land

and

I will make amends for this slight into

your solitude

.

For I am Raven

I can build things from sticks and stones

peck and grab and stab and stack and foot place just right

or even

build things from thoughts and words alone

to assist you

in candlelight

I just don’t want to flight

in dark

any longer

and

not this night

in most order

I just need walk a floor

or alight a door

allow

please

me bring inside

at least

for

this just one night

26 thoughts on “Raven’s Night (poem)”

  4. This is excellent! I love this prequel to Edgar Allen Poe’s Raven….and these lines
    “for I am Raven
    Raven that follow
    confused of crow brethren
    curse-d dim cousins
    but stronger than they as they crow foot in a murder of friends”
    …..especially when you consider a group of crows is called a murder! But I’m sure you know that and that’s why you include this line here. The last stanza beginning “I am Raven” really wraps it up and are telltale (a Poe phrase?) of his true personality prior to his fame. Well done!

    AND by the way, welcome to dVerse! We are a virtual pub for poets around the globe – a friendly bunch with prompts on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. One Saturday a month we also have dVerse LIVE at 10 AM EST where a link is provided for folks to click on and go live with audio and video – although one can close their camera and mute their audio if they’d just like to sit in. I will be hosting dVerse LIVE on Saturday, February 17th at 10 AM EST. The link will appear on the OLN prompt on Thursday, February 15th which I’ll host as well. OLN stands for Open Link Night: folks can post any one poem of their choosing. An optional prompt is also provided, but many people enjoy the freedom of posting a poem of their choosing. So OLN on Thursday the 15th and then our LIVE session on Saturday Feb 17, at 10 AM EST. Our January dVerse LIVE session had 20 folks attend and the following countries were represented: US, Sweden, UK, Finland, Australia, Trinidad Tobago, Pakistan, India, Germany, and Mexico. In past months we’ve also had folks from Kenya, Jerusalem, and the Philippines. Hope you’ll continue to follow dVerse and join us for many more prompts!

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  5. Thank you Lillian!! And I’ve always loved the “a murder of crows” name for their grouping. Hell, if I were a crow I’d “crow” about how I had the coolest of names in all of
    group names for a group of me! HeHe.

    I did leave a response at the site in response to you of how I will be being stressy for the next month until I move into new digs, so I will miss February’s schedule of the LIVE. Packing, packing, packing and trying to pare things down as much as I can (single dudes with two cats don’t need nearly as much shit as I have). Lot’s of stuff (clothes mostly) already gone to a friend who has a thrift shop/food bank and more still on moving day in the way of furniture to donate.

    But I will look forward to March and in the meantime, look forward to more prompts. I will still need something to distract from the stress of moving after all.

    Thanks again!

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  6. You bring out a vulnerability to the Raven that evokes more than pity or awe, maybe a feeling of shared understanding of loneliness and the demand for “a place maybe to land.” An enigma of being. What an enjoyable read!

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  7. I really did enjoy this, and so happy to see a prequel for The Raven. I do love the crows around my yard and watch them solve their problems, such inquisitive, birds. I do love these lines…
    I am Raven

    I can build things from sticks and stones

    peck and grab and stab and stack and foot place just right

    or even

    build things from thoughts and words alone

    to assist you

    in candlelight

    Thank you for bringing us a touch of Poe. And welcome to Dverse, it’s a great place for poets! 🙂

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    1. Thank you thank you! I so appreciate you taking the time and noting the “I am Raven” spot of the poem. Though he is feeling unsure he still has some confidence. And, as with others, thanks so much for the welcome!!

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  8. Having a fancy for corvids and horror of all sorts, your prequel really appealed to me, Stephen! And I love that you wrote it from the raven’s point of view. I also love the opening line with its alliteration creating the sound of knocking on a door. Poor little scared raven only wants to be let in. I especially like the phrase: ‘crow foot in a murder of friends’, and the lines:
    ‘I can build things from sticks and stones
    peck and grab and stab and stack and foot place just right
    or even
    build things from thoughts and words alone’.

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  13. Well, that was an interesting twist from the perspective of the raven. Perhaps, the raven is a bit misunderstood. They are smart creatures. But, I would be hesitant to open my door to walk my floor.

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