A Soulful Season Poem by Bill Galvin

Yes, the sun shines freely
Down through the spaces,
Opened now to allow light to shed upon
Once shadowed places,
Which were canopied with leaves of green,
Then gold,
That when they fell to the ground so serene,
Deep inside we called that “loss”,
And our spirits let lonesome tears unfold.

But we can now clearly see the forest floor,
And the trunks of trees once shaded,
And crisp sharp shadows of branchy fingers
Bespeak of sunshine here once jaded,
And foretell of what’s in store;
For this is when the chill and freeze appear,
That tries to make us stay indoors,
And invites gloom and tries to sap our cheer;
But we’ll have none of that,
Not this or any other year.

And though there are sorrowful stresses,
With the shorter days, colder darker nights,
And inevitable falling of the future snow,
This would be one of the beautiful sadnesses,
That all must suffer through, who know,
That we learn to live without the colors,
Without the comforts, and warm sensations,
That brightened our lives once before;
For renewals and rebirths and rejuvenations,
For those, we move onward with good reason,
And we persevere to be there once more,
When new colors will be waiting for us
On the other side of this soulful season.

11-24-2015 (Sheldonville, MA)