Rise and Shine

Imagine you wake up
with a second chance: The blue jay
hawks his pretty wares
and the oak still stands, spreading
glorious shade. If you don't look back,

the future never happens.
How good to rise in sunlight,
in the prodigal smell of biscuits -
eggs and sausage on the grill.
The whole sky is yours

to write on, blown open
to a blank page. Come on,
shake a leg! You'll never know
who's down there, frying those eggs,
if you don't get up and see.


Dawn Revisited, by Rita Dove


Woke up this morning to a coyote howling in the field, and when I looked out the window it was hard to believe it wasn't right there in the yard. Those creatures are real ventriloquists. When I finally roused myself and came downstairs it was so nice out I spent a little time just standing on the porch and gazing around, soaking in the glow of the sun pushing its way through the aspens behind the house. After a bit I could hear this low rumbling sound, and it didn't take a skilled gastromancer to figure out it was time for coffee and a sticky bun. 

Sorry but it's my journal so I get to enjoy ridiculous vocabulary if I want to. 

The rest of the day was spent interspersing domestic chores with paperwork that should have been done already. But the first part of the morning was nice and that counts for a lot.