A cardinal outside my kitchen window

Cracks seeds and drops the hulls.

A yard squirrel twirls an acorn in deft hands

Far enough away from me to be

Unafraid —

A cat laps water, then cleans its whiskers

With a moist paw wet by a pink tongue.

A dog slops water outside its bowl,

Takes water down his throat not caring who

Sees —

A once grand tree lays broken on the hard ground,

Given to the laws of gravity and decay.

Its dead boughs spread in outstretched arms

As the proud wood returns to

Earth —

A blanket of heat lifts slowly sunward,

Meets a steady downfall of cool air,

Makes a new wind darting here and there.

We know how but never know

Why —

An unborn child kept by its mother’s blood,

Owns nothing save its soul.

Silently it waits for breath to come,

Like all of us living not knowing our

End —