Guide

From time to time
as I walk the beach
a particular crow will amble ahead of me
seeming to track my progress

If I match its pace it will keep walking
hopping
taking little bursts of flight
until it reaches its companions
in their loose, quarrelling-but-cooperative bunches

Embarrassed, I veer aside
grateful for the guide
but as yet unclear regarding the great dark communal mystery
into which I am being led