Summer. Fall. Winter. Spring. Poem by Elizabeth Jordan Heinbuch

A soft summer security
hung in the hands of the leaves
loosely living in the trees
where in that shaded covering
we crafted and kept our memories
and in tall grasses we laid our heads
disrupting ancestral insect beds
where they breed and feed
where their poor forefathers bled
In pheremones we swam
All along with them
And lost our hearts decades apart
Where and when we settled in.

But how warmth does quickly fade
like life to death again
as on an early septembre day
when the sky goes grey with rain.
So is autumn's breath
Icy and intimate
Only feeling malcontent
Yet not so quick to utter it-
No, not so easy to admit...
And we left each others' rooms
trying to find our own forgotten tombs
In which to hide our eyes
From ours and others' lies.

In our winter hibernation
we were hidden
when it seemed
all affectionate advances
were forbidden
and our faults went unforgiven
even in our sleep
where we betray ourselves in dream.
Our days all grew shorter
And longer grew black nights
So far away were both shoulders
and both fists so quick to fight.
Even in our blankets
We were as cold as Ice
B/c we never held each other-
It was only ourselves we sacrificed.

Then showed signs of spring
like death to life again,
pure white snow receeds
to show a fertile field and flowering seed
where previously were only thorned weeds.
The birds hum their harmonies
and malinger in their melodies
as we stroll along
swimming in their songs.
And summer is in our sights
one could see it in our eyes
filled with sweet new love
and re-kindled fires.