For What Do You Give Thanks?

by Abigail Carroll

That I woke in the hollow of a starred dark
to the arias of coyotes
echoing the hills.

That my neighbor tractored winter hay
at dawn
steam rising from the black backs
of the frosted cows.

That hoofed snow under the unpruned apple
initialed the night presence
of deer.

That the red fox slinked along the stone wall.

That when I fingered the hay-tangled wool
of the snow-eyed sheep
it conferred warmth
and oil.

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Abigail Carroll is author of three poetry collections: Cup My Days like Water, Habitation of Wonder, and A Gathering of Larks: Letters to Saint Francis from a Modern-Day Pilgrim. She lives and writes in Vermont. Find her at www.abigail-carroll.com.