I wonder

does the frost know
when it winks at me
in oblique sunrise light
that I will wink back?

does my shadow
walking in front of me
rising sun behind
know it has a friend?

does the lingering snow
coyly lying along the other path
(the one I don’t take)
know how beguiling it is?

and what about the moon?
is she jealous of all this attention
to the rise of day
when her light is obscured?

does the winter morning know
my heart blossoms like
frost ferns across a window
when I walk through her quiet embrace?

or the busy juncos
foraging on a frozen ground
charcoal on brown
know how much I love their company?

I wonder

will there always be
winter mornings like this?