Revelations

A moment of thaw, the fog lifted
and the birds came out: wrens,
chickadees, nuthatches, brown creepers,

and so many golden-crowned kinglets
the needles of the fir shook
and sparks lit the deep recesses.

It was not just a celebration
but a haste like haying before rain,
a fervor to work like puritans

whose barricades feared the worst,
that idleness when the devil succeeded
and men and women looked at each other,

wondering possibly for the first time
if there weren't happier things to be doing,
more loving ways to worship.

Copyright © 2003 E. G. Burrows All rights reserved
from New Zoo Poetry Review
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission