Winter

On the heels of autumn’s flight Nature draped in winter’s white The dreariness of brown and grey Belie the colors found in May Frosty winds howl through the trees Made barren by December’s freeze Though January’s colder still And February spreads the chill All life, it seems, is in retreat The silence echoing defeat As arctic air does plunder forth From icy strongholds in the north But all great kingdoms start to wane As other ones begin their reign And winter, though a ruthless king Must one day soon give way to spring