What Gift Can I Give You?

What gift can I give you, sister

In this season of gold, incense and myrrh?

You were my wondrous child,

A magical Christmas gift.

Today, what can I offer you?

I send you midwinter spring in the Rockies

Dazzling sun on snow

Sky of brilliant blue,

Soft moonlight on the foothills.

I send you the hollow willow tree

Springing green from the stump,

 House finches trilling at the nest,

And the call of the mountain chickadee.

I send you the fragrance of ponderosa pines,

The howling song of coyotes at nightfall,

A bumblebee dusted with sunflower pollen

And the hazy afternoon,

Rich with sound of cicadas.

I send you a golden aspen leaf

Fluttering to the ground,

A shaft of light through the red maples

And a crunchy, frost-sweetened apple.

I send you the tinkling murmur

 Of water flowing beneath ice,

The sound of fresh, crisp powder underfoot,

 And the jewel-bright stars of midnight.

May all these beauties bless your year!

What gift can I give you, my poet

 But poetry?