Winter Choosing
The scruffy reds
and golds
of winter finches
puffed out against the wind
decorate our feeders.
They cling
to the branches
of the fir
and make even the bare
ligaments
of the lilac bush
flush with color against the snow.
I choose birds in their winter plumage
before the splendor
of our neighbor's tree
refracting
in her window;
before the rainbow
of her lights
strung along the porch.
After Christmas
our neighbor
packs away her lights,
storing strings of bulbs,
in the attic.
But the winter birds sit,
fattened and glowing
from sunflower seeds
on the feeders
in our yard,
lasting long, long,
past the turning of the year.
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