in the morning the snowbirds came

in a deviant wind

snowfall scatters

like eider

silently

great flakes strobe

in the moonlight

sweep and swirl

against the bright clear blackness

of the winter night

daylight rises

snow shimmers

mound-swept

like frothy cumulus

stilled

in the early morning sun

small plump

startling white

snowbirds gather

in a shed-sheltered lee

scratch at the hard dirt

heads bobbing

aimfully

pecking and bouncing

feeding and vigilant

suddenly skyward

in a burst of flight

as the ravens alight

quick and low

sweep and swoop

in mysterious choreography