They scavenge the foliage
Laid waste by old Jack Frost
Surviving frozen mornings
They search
Freeze dried blossoms, hardened pods, and barren stalks
A dragonfly lands
On one dried branch after another
A bee finds a surviving cosmos
Finches scour sunflower heads
Cracking seed after seed
Downy Woodpeckers scurry round cottonwood trunks
Like feathered rats
They pause to drum out rhythms
As they drill into the bark
Rata tat tat rata tat tat
Sandhill Cranes clatter in distant fields, unseen
Then appear as silhouettes against the clouds
High above the yellow leaves that cling to branches
Hanging on until forced to fall
And blanket the ground below
The sun hangs low
Days are quickly swallowed by darkness
While the cold nights linger
Stars circle in dark, gelid skies
Winter will soon be upon us
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