Preparing

Preparing

Outside the squirrels are frantic, crashing through
downed leaves as they gather food for less generous times.
The rabbits are in a daze, as if summer packed up and left
without remembering to tell them goodbye. The chipmunks 
are more shrewd. They don’t wait for signs. They stripped
the serviceberries back in spring. All along they’ve been hoarding.

Inside I am padding my own burrow, stacking books two deep
on the shelves.