Photo by The New York Public Library
The Circle Closes
Once on the ground
Most all turn brown
But while on the tree
I see
Gradations of glory
Fall show with a story
Of chill and sun
And fun!
Then, trees lose their crown
Bright jewels fall down
The wheel without sound
Goes ‘round.
Soon autumn lets go
Boughs sleep under snow
Away to a quest
Winter rest.
All wait from a habit
Still as a rabbit
‘Til birth is soon
High noon.
New growth in spring
Makes the trees sing!
Tiny babies born
Each morn.
Shadows with sun
Plus breezes begun,
Happy lime lace
Tickles space.
Leaves, narrow or wide
All explode outside!
Canopy completed
By birds, greeted.
Creatures multiply
Under shaded sky
Full summer exposes
Circle closes.
Fair emerald and jade
Teal and hunter green fade
Now red, orange, gold
Are bold!
Once on the ground
Most all turn brown…
©2022 gratefulsue
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I worked really hard on this poem over the period of a year or more, to get the rhymes and meter to my liking. I don’t mind saying, I’m really proud of it now! The “circle,“ of course, refers to the earth’s orbit around the sun in one year’s time. Can you spot the progression from fall to winter, to spring, to summer, and then back again to fall? Since the earth continues to orbit the sun, year after year, theoretically there is no end to this poem! When you get to the bottom, you just go back to the top and repeat where you left off, over and over again.
As for the photo, I was looking for a picture that showed more than one season. I love how the spring flowers are blooming against the backdrop of the mountains covered in snow and ice.