a habit of morning

on good days
i wake up
to see the owl
cut the sky from the earth
and the dawn
leave its orange
in her wake
i step down the seven steps
to the wide open doorway
move the leaded glass rainbows
aside
and loop
a magic loop
greeting deer
and turkeys
rabbits
and what is left
of the snakes
i say hello
to the sacred oak circle
i step through the portal
into the magic
just beyond my patio
and wander willingly
accompanied by spirits
of dead and alive things
i love
i go off
on a sentimental journey
into deep magic
and emerge
with feathers
from dreams
i return
to the light of the world
the love in my home
crack open the eggs
and call my children
to the table
for breakfast

every good morning
i remember
this
is
love

up

up
early
before the sun
before the dawn
of the day
just making itself
inside this darkness
a blanket
of dreams
to cover up with
to cuddle under
i am here
awake
typing these quietudes
these shallow breaths
turned deep
i am in it
this night
about to become
mourning
in the morning
and i know
it, too,
is a kind of
birth
of what cannot
be born
on this side
of dawn.