The branches

Stand Stark

Against the

Wintry sky

Bare, leafless

Stark skeletons

In the cold

Grey sky

The wind blowing

A mournful dirge

Through the

Bare branches

As the weather warms

The branches a little less ominous

In the warming days

Of the encroaching spring

Tints of red buds

Forming on the lifeless branches

The red continues to

Burst forth

Growing and bulging

with life anew

Bursting forth

In warmer days

The green of life

And freshness

As the leaves unfurl

And start to produce shade

On the gently

Warming days

The wind produces

A reassuring rustling

And a lazy shade

For hot humid days

Children squealing

In play under the living shade

The shade over

A family cookout

The as the days grew warmer

They start to cool again

The deepest of summer green

Starts to fade again

As nights grow cooler

And days grow shorter

A tinge of color

appears at the tips

As smoke appears

In the chimneys nearby

The color deepening

As the days grow cooler still

The leaves darkening

In crimson glow

The brilliant color

Foreboding the darkness ahead

Brilliant crimson

Stands out in the brilliant sun

But the stiffening winds

Loosen the leaves tentative grip

As they fall to

The ground below

Building a carpet

Of crisp dryness below.

One by one

They start to fall

Borne on the autumns

Cooling breeze.

Then falling ever

More rapidly

Until only a few

Remain clinging on.

The snow now falls

Coating bare branches

In a jacket of white

As the wind blows

Eerily through

In the mournful

Sound of winter.

And so

The cycle of life

starts anew.

Paul H. Bartoswicz 10/10/09