the glow above the trees in the northwest

was all it took to turn my thoughts to you

o blessed thought repeatedly expressed
concealed in fathomless guises; all true

how faint the light of dusk evokes your face

blind of your beauty and lost in day's care
searching the night sky for a clue or trace
black upon blackness when you are nowhere

the chickadee pecks at the window sill

flightily lighting to eat the black seed
the cat waits on the other side until
the gray winter birds have had all they need

they are gone now and we are growing old

how do they ever tolerate the cold