Peter Makuck: Winter Morning

I kill the TV news
then sit in a silence some say 
is God’s music and

let the living room focus.
My mother’s maple rocker,
this hand-made mug 
that held my father’s coffee
now holding mine.

A wide beam of sun inches
across the Persian rug—
patterns I’ve never noticed.
 
I pat the arm of the sofa 
and in the slanted sun shaft
      dozens of dust motes
 lift      float     spark
and mesmerize. 

I pat the arm
and the dust performs again
until the last bit of glitter.

At the window,
coffee in hand,
I’m just in time to see
a painted bunting
settle on the porch feeder.

A bunting, rare 
at this time of year.
	
I stand and sip,
sip and watch
the morning news.

Copyright 2023 Peter Makuck

Peter Makuck’s many books include Long Lens: New and Selected Poems (BOA, 2010). He lives in Wilmington, North Carolina.

Painted Bunting (photo by Steve Byland)