I wrote my tanka poem in response to Melissa’s Fandango Flash Fiction Challenge. The poem is inspired by the photo below.

A crow on the rock
waits by the shore for the rest,
feathers glint deep black,
silhouetted in the calm
blue light of late afternoon
Lesley Scoble, May 2024
Sketch of a Crow
I sketched this crow who visits us every year during the nesting season. He waits patiently for us to feed him. He likes his meals served with a bowl of water. I call him Russel (after the actor Russel Crowe).
This year the word has spread and two other nesting couples come to our balcony caff. I know where they live. There is a nest in nearby Charterhouse Square and a nest that belongs to my subject here, that sits atop a tall plane tree in our local Fortune Park. The Charterhouse Street crows are not as patient as the Fortune Park crow. They let us know they are there with loud caws. I love them.

Time-lapse video (24 secs) of my ink sketch of a crow.
Listen to the sound of a crow cawing
Thank you, Melissa for your inspiring #FFFC photo prompt.
I wrote my tanka poem in response to Melissa’s Fandango Flash Fiction Challenge. The prompt’s photo is by Jonathon Pinet at Unsplash.
Lesley lives in the City of London Square Mile. An artist, actor and sculptor (her first ceramic sculpture won the V&A inspired by… Award). Scenic artist & book illustrator, playwright (her musical play, Rapscallion performed in inner city schools and theatre school); TV dancer; Animator and illustrator for TV production. Set up Pinecone Studios Ltd and IIMSI Ltd drama and filmmaking workshops in London – producing award-winning films made by children.








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