Title from "Milkfish" by Eugene Gloria. The version that appears in In the Watchful City is slightly expanded from this edition.

The crows spoke with the voices of dead children. They swooped through the air, black smudges against a tapestry of blue, cawing words torn from fevered throats. One landed on a branch outside Mei’s bedroom. “Don’t want medicine,” it croaked. Mei opened the window and shooed the bird away. In the dim light of morning,…