Winter Lullaby

By Bette Killion

How many creatures do you know

That sleep through all the cold and snow,

Never feeling nippy toes,

Wind-chafed cheeks, or frost-tipped nose?

Never creeping, running, leaping

Through the snowdrifts? Never peeping

Over banks of crystal magic? Only sleeping,

sleeping deep?

Hundreds, thousands, millions do.

Bears and squirrels—turtles, too—

Chipmunks, lizards, frogs, and toads,

Insects, birds, and snakes, and loads

Of other creatures hidden deep,

Warm and snug and fast asleep—

oh, very fast asleep!

Illustrated by Shauna Mooney