Masterpiece

December snows are falling almost daily

The winter clouds hang heavy in the sky.

The woods behind my house have lost their palette

Of greens and colours bright within my eye.

Everything has slipped toward the grey zone

Where lines are blurred and softer all around.

My thoughts have slowed and wander now like children

In a game of hide and seek where no one’s found.

There are no longer shadows in the woodland

For the sun is trapped behind the steely clouds.

Old companions are now silent in this season

But they occupy my dreams in boisterous crowds.

I watch them dance and laugh and call out greetings

And they beckon me to join their merry ranks.

But I awake to find the snow piled ever deeper

And the shades of white a canvas simply blank.

It waits for me to paint my final picture

To find a place inside the gloom of greys.

A landscape steeped in drink from other seasons

A still life wrapped in bits of former days.

I have earned the glories of the springtime

I have reveled in the warmth of summer suns

And the fall has shown me change is wrapped in beauty

Now my masterpiece of life is nearly done.