I welcome them at daybreak,
new prints pressed clearly in fresh snow
where rabbits, skunks, raccoons have come
with winter hunger under the moon
pulling them from hidden hollows
towards where at dusk I place my gifts
against cold dark as it falls.
Lettuce heads, fresh bread, smooth cheese,
sometimes much of a roasted chicken
set aside from my dinner alone.
I’ve known what it is to live
unsure if food will come.
Now that I have my own kitchen
I cook enough to share.
And mornings I find my simple thanks:
patterns from small pads and claws
showing me that wild survives,
helped by my simple care.
for Kelly
—
For twenty years Katharyn Howd Machan led a writing workshop in Key West, Florida, to benefit Nancy Forrester’s Secret Garden and parrot rescue. Year-round she is a professor in the Writing Department of Ithaca College in central New York State. Her most recent collections are Dark Side of the Spoon, A Slow Bottle of Wine, and What the Piper Promised, all selected in national competitions.
