The first light of morning
Kindles color
On the canyon cliffs
Apricot and gypsum
Blood-red and juniper:
Dawn descends the rock walls trending
Towards the shelter of his home
Where a trick of light
Becomes a nuthatch
Hanging upside down at the feeder:
familiar but never really known.
A coyote watches him, walks away
slowly, turning to look,
as it goes up the arroyo.