MORNING MEDITATION
By Laura Stamps

There is a shuffling
uncertainty to sunrise
once dawn snaps
its fiery scarf at the sky.
Three cats could be sleeping
quietly, when two field
sparrows might appear
on the porch, peeping
and leaping to the top
of the French doors.
Slowly, the cats slip
from the lilac lip
of the quilt, pushing
the blinds aside to covet
these tiny fists of flight.
Or a crow might plant
himself in the garden
and toot a rusty flute.
Six feline ears rise inside
with each note, whirling
alert to his brackish tune.
It's a gift to drift in bed
on such a morning,
listening to the skip
and slide of birdsong
tickling the pines.
Tangled clouds cushion
the sun, as hundreds
of blackbirds gather
in the laps of wingless
trees, their shrill sigh
a feathered meadow
and a sign of warmer
times ahead.

Laura Stamps