Cat nuzzles my face with a demanding mew
a sputtering motor chugs past the house
I pry my body loose from bed
nuke a cup of day-old coffee
and retrieve the paper
watching the carrier’s car
struggle up the hill
his motor pops and grinds
around the loop and back again.
Coffee steams in the cup
as I shuffle to the patio
pull cool spicy air
deep into my lungs
a chickadee sings its name
the buzz of a finch answers
a motor coughs and whines
lower on the hillside
one-half mile away.
A trio of ravens call as they weave
through tops of ponderosas
grass rustles as a chipmunk
chirps and squeaks
when my old dog pees nearby.
A popping cadence rises
then disappears
then a grind of gears
on the other side of the hill
it winds up and down lanes
and avenues one mile away.
The trees hardly move in the morning
only a soft whisper hushed and still
I fracture the silence with a slurp of coffee
newspaper crackles in my hands
I hear the gears shift down again
rasping like a tired old man
two miles away.