This Day

("Therefore we do not worry about tomorrow......" Matthew 6:34)

in the near-freezing daybreak
a chattering flock
of goldfinches glide on luminous wings
into the white birch tree limbs

here, today
the goldfinches comb these branches
upside down and every which way
to eat the seeds in tiny birch "cones"

the gold of their puffed-out bodies
magnifies the golden sunrise,
as they begin their day with seeds
that are packed with the bright
life of new birch trees

how these golden ones relish their meal of seeds
how they sharply define
     this day,
     today
as their brief measure of time to shine