Summer bowed and Fall preened,
Tinted maple red, spun orange on green,
Setting stage for a dazzling show,
A prime debut, a glorious glow!
And just as she raised her head in glory,
Winter barged in and stole the story,
Pushed aside Fall like Swift meets Kayne!
Decked the trees with a wintery mane,
Crowned the pumpkins and witches white,
Shocked the oaks in all their might.
Limbs drooped sodden leaves still green,
And Old Man Winter stole the scene.
The tomatoes were the first to go,
Bulging green, doused by snow.
Down they went in the first round,
Yellow buds met cold hard ground.
Below the woods, the hickories waved,
Their skinny trunks long freed of shade,
They called to maple’s sagging crown
“How do you like your pretty leaves now?”
And so Fall shuffled off the stage,
And winter turned a prophetic page,
It wilted corn and lawns still green,
And threw a blanket on Halloween,
Leaving a warning for all to hear:
“There’s more to come, much more this year.
One hand picks the palette, no matter the date.
Get ready, prepare for your Winter fate,
Stack the wood high and the pantry deep.”
The animals scurried to winter’s sleep.
Children made snowmen they would never see
Return again in October glee.
At the coffee houses, one sole debate:
If it snows mid-October, what fury waits?
The Agony of Victory 