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Winter Slumber
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when the geese fly south
and the sky is gray
close your eyes, lift up your eyes,
listen with careful ears.
feel winter’s slumber coming on
hear it in the crackling, silent trees
note the crisping wind
sharply snapping at their boughs.
feel it on the windowpanes
chilling glass on fingertips
note the biting in the air
heated breath on numbing lips.
see it in the early eaves
in the glowing sunset
where silhouettes of the naked trees
rattle in the biting air.
watch the sparrow and the wren;
they know it is time once more
to abandon carefully made nests
as they’ve done each and every years.
the squirrels, too, have disappeared,
stashing their food, preparing for the winter season;
their heartbeat slows and body temp plummets
cold winter days spent hibernating snug in their nests.
humans, too, nestle inside,
inactive we become during winter's slumber
abandoning our patios and gardens
long, dreary days are spent snacking, our waistlines expanding.
Copyright ©
Sara Etgen-Baker
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