Yesterday's poem

Yesterday's National Poetry Month prompt on Poetic Asides was to write a sestina. It was fun! (True confession: I love sestinas, even though they always seem daunting at first.) I decided to choose, instead of six random end words, three pairs of rhyming end words.

Here is my attempt (or my draft):

At the End of Winter and a Day


An April wind may blow
no ill, or summon gray weather,
rain on the trees, one lone crow
winging west. Gone is the flock,
a sleight of bone and feather.
The clouds pile up and knock

into thunder, a rumbling drum, knock
on a copper kettle, a blow
to evening's descent. You find a feather
lost in this darkening weather
and look for the circling flock,
bird shadows in the shape of crow

but the wings elude you, each crow
gone to roost, and you knock
at the door of dusk, flock
to the porch light, a glass of wine, blow
out the candles and watch weather
bruise the sky, feather

the light to shreds of wind. You feather
your hand through my hair, crow
feet perching at my eyes. You weather
my storms, watch me knock
over my glass, trash my dreams, and blow
up sometimes. I flock

to the lights and then return like a whole flock—
birds of a black feather,
posse of crows, even pigeons. I blow
off my steam, my storm, eat my crow
and you, quiet now, knock
a rhythm on the table, Stormy Weather.

We will wait out this spring, whether
the wind gives out or not. We'll flock
to the wild side, knock
on wood, on birch bark, wish on a feather
watch for each midnight crow
and listen to this cruel month blow

into May. Listen! I'll blow the candles, knock
three times, hold you in sunset weather.
Flock to the west, wish on a feather and crow!