Oh How I Love the Temperate Zone

Oh how I love the temperate zone! When all four seasons manifest. One by one they’ve come and gone; Rebirth of each now deemed the best. But just as one becomes too long, And tired of the wait, I yearn transition to the next. Like old familiar friends abate. Pristine rebirth from yearly rest, A welcomed change to clean the slate. The early green breaks through the snow. Sequence of hues above the ground, As each, in time, becomes mature And colored blooms abound. And even while the flowers drop Wilted pallet profligate In clumps upon the ground The trees begin to foliate Then offer up their fruit and seeds And prove they’re worth your wait. Then mostly greens are left for months The chlorophyll to harness light The growth now earnest in its race For bush and tree in girth and height As flora taps the energy Of solar juice in space and time The yearly growth a welcomed sign That life is not a static force But Mother Earth’s dynamic vine. First autumn creeps, then rushes in. As life slows down and now the wane Of foliage yields brilliant hues In splashes on the mountain tops Till last leaves fall and color drains The hardwood trees now bare and bleak And only evergreens remain The frozen ground and dormant tree Announcing winter’s reign As all life rests and lays in wait For spring to come again.