through a darkened wood
the first waking voice pierces the void
inquisitive cardinal stretching her limbs.

i am her first audience
hearing her song on this day
i feel her enthusiasm for the sunrise.

and now her neighbors
add their songs, bouncing back and forth
between the branches they share.

i hear them all
the chickadee, the wren, the finch, a whippoorwill
making their way to morning.

a serene and emotional call to rise
as a sleepy blue light hugs the trees
and the feathered energy hums me awake. 

"Nothing is more beautiful than the loveliness of the woods before sunrise." - George Washington Carver