Earlier this evening, I was watching Tokyo Waka: A City Poem, an hour-long documentary about Tokyo released in 2013. Crows feature prominently—which reminded me of this episode from my days in Tokyo…

A spring morning
clear, blue sky
not much of a breeze

As I neared the station
the two schoolgirls
who had been walking in front of me
turned around
giggling nervously
they began walking toward me

For a moment
I was puzzled

Then I saw it:
perched on a corner
of the chain-link fence

sat a crow

huge—like a nightclub bouncer
stationed at the door
to keep the riff-raff out

I stopped

To turn back now
would mean going back
a block or so
to get to the next crossing

just to avoid the crow

I took a breath
steeled myself
and started again toward the station

When I got to about
ten metres from the fence

the crow flew away

I breathed a sigh of relief
and kept walking

(12 July 2017)