You may know that in addition to my artwork I also write poetry (posted on my blog Claudia McGill Writes Poetry, Did You Know That?). For the next several months I will be posting here a combined art/poetry project, Large Artist Sketchbook 2020.
I fill up sketchbooks with all kinds of art. Some contain images only and some of them I use the images as inspiration for poetry. In these books the image is on one page of the spread and the poetry on the other. This book is set up in this manner.
I’ll show you the image and then add the poem that goes with it. See what you think.
Paying Attention
i.
I lean
against the telephone pole
at the bus stop.
ii.
I almost see
crows flying
in the overcast
above the parking lot.
I almost see
crows come down to ground
black dots
scattered on the asphalt
reflecting pink
neon from the shopping center lights.
I almost hear
crow voices carried over
but they are shouted out by
the bellow wheeze of the bus
grinding down to the curb
pulling away before I reach my seat.
iii.
The crows lift off
calling to each other
in the overcast
above the bus plodding down the road.
4/8/20
Large Artist Sketchbook 2020 image 18
Claudia McGill and Her Art World 
You know I can never resist crows. (K)
Yes, once again, this bird crops up, sometimes I feel there is always a crow in the wings or just to my side, about to step in to say something to me, and of course in the fall it seems to me I see them the most…
They always have something to say (ready or not)
I am another fan of crows so your poem appealed to me not just because they feature but because of the narrator hoping to actually see the crows. I love the phrase “bellow wheeze”. Perfect description of that sound. I like that hot pink and red combo in your artwork, especially that dappled spray spatter in the red area.
The crows lead their own lives with utter indifference to ours, maybe even are disdainful of us, and this is strangely compelling to me, so that I observe them a lot. Yet they always come close and then fly away right before I can grasp what they are saying or are about. As I said, this is really compelling to me.