No Matter

No matter that I tossed,
tangled in a blanket of worry
or that my dreams,
when they finally came,
were stark and disturbing
or that my foggy mind,
exhausted,
still clings to darkness.

The birds greet each other
with summoning song,
ushering in a frozen dawn.
Bare branches stretch their bones
across a brightening sky.
A soft sunrise,
all pink and orange and purple-gray,
taps at the window
and evidently,
it is going to be a day,
anyway.

By Maria Brady-Smith
Photo by Mike Smith