The morning dawns pink and crisp
With autumn promise
Prisms of frost reflect in the rising sun
And cast their light in short bursts
Of brilliance across the leaf strewn ground;
A flock of chickadees gather boisterously alongside a cardinal
To eat their fill at a feeder hanging from a bare oak limb,
While a cat watches slit-eyed and warm from a window sill;
Smoke curls languidly from the chimney of the humble log home,
A throw back to Appalachia's past;
Warm yellow light escapes around the cat like a halo,
While the scent of bacon frying fills the clearing,
And a voice hums "Amazing Grace" with reverence.