A leaf floats on still water,
as jeweled dew hangs suspended,
and the forest awakens with a yawn,
pantomimed by the mouth of a bear.

A hundred covert eyes watch,
while mouse, mole, and wise badger,
hold court in the tumbled leaves,
and the pink sky peals away the night.

A flutter in the twitter tree,
where starlings sit on leafless twigs,
discussing the night in shrill voices,
to swirl as a school into the sky.

The lowing of a milk cow,
beyond a split rail fence,
as a girl with her pail arrives,
rubbing her sleep-filled eyes.

The last hoot of an owl,
as her disheveled chicks jostle,
soon they will fly the night
silent killers of furry smallness.

The bear shambles off to hide
from guns, dogs and bigger bears
disturbing a dozen pair of raven
who take to the sky, mocking.

The life-giving orb appears triumphant
firing rays between damp branches
and lights the heart of a rooster
who crows in jubilation for this new day.