Gift of a Day

By: David W. Berner

It is on a walk

that I encounter her

“What a gift of a day,” she says

Her smile is true

her stride is deliberate

allowing for wonder

“It is,” I say and return a smile.

Winter had forgotten herself

confused, she was.

Certainly, it cannot always be this way

glorious sun in a season of gray.

On the walk home I discover a field mouse,

gray and stiff, upon the concrete sidewalk

With tenderness, I slide the body to the nearby

grass and dirt, a more fitting burial, it seems.

Everything ends, they say

Everything changes, they say

Steps from my door, I wonder

if the mouse had known what a gift

the day had been.

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David W. Berner is the author of several books of personal narrative and fiction. His work has been honored by the Soci-ety of Midland Authors and the Eric Hoffer Book Award. He writes outside Chicago.