Morning Gift

Stealthy sunbeams
slide around
the blinds
to warm
my eyelids,
forcing my lashes
apart.

My unused muscles
unfurl and
stretch
themselves
one by one
as my mind
shivers
to life.

Noises outside
my window
tickle
my eardrums
with insistent
rustles
that tempt me
to stand
on coltish legs.

My toes
touch ground
with feline silence,
and breath
is held
as I slowly
rotate
the metal slivers
open
to reveal
the tiniest birds.

Sandy S. (Auguest 14, 1996, 10:30 P.M.)