Coffee cup in hand, I call the cats
To come with me outside to enjoy
Morning’s more-warm-than-chilly light.
Sun smiles weakly through thin clouds,
Gamely shining, shyly promising heat to come.
The birds are cheeping, or chirping, or cooing
A cacophony of Valentine’s Day love.
I have to smile, even knowing winter
Hasn’t thrown off her cold cloak yet. For
Now, I admire hard-won flowers of
Snapdragons, petunias, sweet Williams
And pansies, coddled through winter
With cloaks of their own when needed,
Even Arizona has bouts of freezing weather.
Watered and watched and coaxed to
Stay alive, they nod and sway in a light breeze,
Which also plays with my large, tubular wind chime.
And here’s the mockingbird, again, strangely
Silent, just come to tease the cats, I guess.
Time to go in, coffee’s gone, day’s getting on
And the wind’s picking up, tearing apart the
Faint perfume of happy flowers. Tomorrow
A cold front’s swooping down, today the poem’s
Done and written, before the storm comes in.


Erin Elizabeth Kelly-Moen
© Copyright 2/14/12