Are You not Staggered

Are you not staggered by the beauty

of winter?

By the light defining the texture

of bare branches?

By the brilliance of Sirius

in the cold dark nights?

By the long violet shadows

and the faraway sun?

I am staggered by the stillness

and the silence.

The only motion is the skittering

of birds in the scrub

and the only sound is my breathing,

waiting,

waiting.

The Avocet Weekly, January 9, 2022