The lake is frozen
Ice is cracked and crackling
Last month we had small patches of open water
That ducks found
Eagles stood on the ice edge
Watching the ducks
Now the only birds I see are in the trees and dry flower stalks
Perched in the bushes
Little birds, chickadees and flickers and sparrows and cardinals
Doves waddle in the snow underneath the feeders
After a snowfall I see bird footprints crisscrossing
All around the house
The birds look inward
Until the ice is gone.