One Day in September

© September 16, 1998

Late summer's lush green
Offset by bold blooms
In a stiff, cool breeze
As along my train zooms

Enjoying early autumn
(My favorite time of year)
With a changing balance
As day and night shift gear

Cool, crisp nights,
Occasionally even cold,
Warn of winter's approach...
Their story openly told.

Meanwhile the trees only hint
At their coming splendor
This year shy, not bold,
As they slowly surrender.

Trees, nudging from green to yellow,
Some even to red in a bolder move,
...Just a few leaves turn in the hollow
But more will soon their glory prove.

Soon with scarlets, russets, and golds
Autumn will again quickly become king
Sweeping boldly in a swath across the land
While birds for a far-off place take wing.

I wonder, when browns fill the horizon
Will I see that time as beautiful too?
Or will it stay white almost constantly,
So that no other colors shine through?

When the snow starts to fall
And I'm tucked away inside
I wonder how I will feel
As I look back on this ride?

Will I long for this colorful time, 
The gentle changing of seasons?
Or revel in building snowmen —
With joy for different reasons?

I do miss the snowfall
I'd seen regularly as a child
But lately I have lived
Where the winters are mild.

Oh! But then I think of Spring...
And how much relief I will feel
When warmth, energy, and life
Begin to intensify with such zeal.