We had been freezing in separate wings
when the robins came puffed up and proud
ridiculous as senators round bellies
bobbing the branches acorns rattling the roof
like proclamations
Drunk on holly berries
they purpled our porch and picnic table
filibustering through the unraked leaves
chasing the sparrows like pages down the aisle
I thought I saw one smile
You thought you heard one burp
The sky swelled with its loosening rain
making amendments