WINTER

As warm, lazy summer slips away,

 crisp autumn approaches –

With memories of the changing colors

 of leaves and busier days –

A signal that winter

 can’t be long in coming –

Bringing colder, darker times

 and apprehension.

That cruel season

 was never my favorite

And at age eighty-six, it presents

 an unwelcomed challenge –

Will I see again the blossoming of another spring?