One by One

Morning’s first rays
Streaked over the garden fence
Illuminating leaves of the magnolia
Like glowing golden lanterns
One by one pressured by heavy frost
They detached, softly descending
To gently rest upon the garden pond
In the silence of the cold morning air
Among the glowing lanterns
In querulous desperation
Robins fretfully flutter to reattach

Roy L. Nave
November 2006