We learn the worth of warmth —
its animal presence offered as free gift,
exchanged in the close steam of breath,
the animal scent part of the intimacy

We value the small suffusing
of heat from the low sun
pushing through the winter’s chill
(thawing paused for the task of
creating fog, moisture released from frost
drifting between trees)

The last glow offered
before the return to frigid
speaks of winter’s charm,
the color and stillness we can enjoy
when we are warm enough.

©Wendy Mulhern
December 12, 2017