Desolation Of Countryside Poem by Deanna Samuels

Desolation of countryside at this time of year
A transformation in such a brief moment in time
From greens and flaming reds and gleaming golds
Skeletal boughs and branches now outline the sky
Landscape covered in patchy snow from winter's first fall
Laying high on the hills or deep into the woods
Canadian Shield granite banking road appears cold and uninviting
A blanket of white lays over as a crystal coverlet
Lakes and ponds so quickly transformed, skimmed with an icy sheet
Streams and narrow rivers run chillingly and sluggishly
Gurgling over pebbles and rocks through low lying meadows and dales
Dried summer crop stalks well-ploughed into field as nutrient to the soil
No sight of a farm herd, deer, scurrying creatures or domestic pet
Cottages and small homesteads look forlorn in this wintry scene
Bereft of uplifting colorful gardens of summer seasons' blooms
As deeper winter approaches, all this scene observed will itself transform
Transform under one thick stark blanket of snow
Leaving no delineated countryside visible
Save that of manmade structures and the rise and fall of hillsides
Softened with gentle relief from taller heavily laden pine and fir trees
Reaching up and stretching out their heavily snowclad limbs
Whatever the hardest of the depth of winter brings
Nature in Spring will surely melt it all away
Bringing forth a refreshed countryside and once again become alive


Written in Ottawa and Richmond Hill, Ontario - 25th November 2018