SOLITARY STAR

Solitary star

is it cold up 

where you are?

Through bare and brittle 

winter branches

I can see you

sparkling clear,

shining your brightest

just before

you disappear.

The rooster is 

softly crowing

in the barnyard,

a sleepy sound, 

reluctant in the chill.

My wolf-dog pads,

silent and old,

beside me.

The day is coming

when he no more will.

Nine white swans

in formation

now come gliding 

almost noiselessly

winging overhead.

Noses pointed west,

they're heading towards

the water.

Nine swans,

and yet they

mate for life

it's said.

Now daybreak crests

the silver-peaked mountains,

lighting the frozen rooftops

etched in ice.

Tall cedars turn

from black and 

towering giants

to green again,

their beauty

beyond price.

I breathe the essence 

of this winter morning,

wood-smoke on the air

as starshine fades.

My windows are lit up

and, warm and waiting,

is the cozyness

of this little home

I've made.

I feel the blessing

rich with

all life's worth,

just to have

another day

like this

alive 

on Planet Earth.

I wrote this in 2010, when I was still living in my little trailer, during Pup's last winter. Yesterday I walked under the same trees and remembered this walk, hearing his feet padding slowly, knowing soon he would be gone. And now Jasmine and Lukey are gone too. and I am about to make a great leap over the mountains, leaving one more cozy nest behind me and beginning a new chapter within sound of the sea. Life brings amazing changes.

Sharing this snowy weekend with the good folk in the Poetry Pantry at Poets United.