Male and female Northern Cardinals,
puffed up to ward off the winter cold,
sit on the berry bush, their colorful
feathers glistening in the morning sun
that peeks over the glimmering horizon.

I sit at my sunroom window, sipping
my Earl Grey tea, hands clasping
the cup to ward off the morning chill,
as first the male, then the female
tweet songs of welcome, a ritual
they undertake most days when winter
deposits its burden on bare branches
and I sit with my bird friends
for an early morning visit.


© by Peter A. Witt.
Used with the author's permission.