The Animals They Talk

Venus Casts a tiny shadow Upon the ghostly snow From its candle held by an extended hand Of a cloaked man Who trips through the stripped trees Follows the fresh trail of reindeer To our second-floor windowsills Then on to rooftops lined with owls Comet tails thrashing through the oval Stars The kids pretend to sleep To the faint smell of hay Their red stockings overflow with candy canes Earlier in the gray day As I walked my dog alone in the park A herd of deer Found a barren patch of grass In the backyard of a farmhouse Laid themselves out Like real life figurines to a nativity scene Four does curled up on all fours Three bucks standing over them Antlers like crowns Two more does Heads bowed Grazing Kitchen light On In the window Next to a frozen pond A swan curtsies and a sandhill crane bows They nearly kiss Looking on In our bed Between my wife and I With his furry head laid on our pillow Our golden retriever jerks from a dream Whimpers perhaps For my hand cupping his treat Both cats stretch Between our legs Ears twitching to moles jingling To the faint guiding light Outside It’s five before midnight The animals will soon begin to talk Though I’ve heard them All my life Hallelujah!