We all wake up together

In the kitchen, a pot of coffee and a gift of coffee cake

Outside, birds jump and flit at the feeder:

Mourning doves, dark-eyed juncos, black-capped chickadees, a pair of cardinals, song sparrows, goldfinches, a hairy and a downy woodpecker with his red cap

From above, soft flakes fall, and below them the dogs run circles in the yard

In the woods it is quiet, quiet

As we make fresh tracks

These are the gifts:

snow piled on spruce boughs,

birdsong through the air,

steady snowfall on a cold Christmas day.