Autumn litters the streets with pale, orange leaves
Trees stripped bare
Waiting for winter to appear
Just as Autumn leaves
Little squirrels keeping nuts in store
Feverishly scurrying, cheeks stuffed with food
Preparing for Winter’s icy mood
And all the barrenness it has in store
A grizzly bear stuffs himself with food, bulking up his weight
For the long sleep till Spring
When the birds will come out to sing
But for now, they have a very long wait
Tentatively, a hare pops up from his burrow
Slowly looking left, then right
To see who else is left
Greedily taking his winter’s ration to a place no one can borrow
Wise owl observes the spectacle
Atop his solitary post, perched atop a tree
Keen eyes like a sentry
Eyesight sharper than a man wearing spectacles
Many birds escape Winter’s grip by taking flight
Away from its cold hands
Off to warmer lands
In a wondrous sight
Snowflakes now descend instead of rain
Arrows from the sky hurled at the ground
Falling gently without a sound
All part of Winter’s frigid reign
Winter’s chill cuts through the air
Lakes and seas frozen solid
While Winter’s sleep has closed tight many eyelids
Barely any sound is heard by the ear
Little bodies curled together for any bit of heat
Warm fur, wrapped up in little balls
Snug, in the bosom of a tree as snow falls
Pounding the ground with hit after hit
Wearily, a wolf retreats to his cave, tired and beat
No luck in this hunt as his prey is out of reach
Luck as dire as a whale stranded on a beach
No sight of food, not even the tiniest bit
The howling wind is an outward manifestation of his pain
Hopeless and forlorn
Broken and torn
Mournfully trekking across the plain
Stoat and arctic fox now don their winter wear
Snow white
Barely in sight
With their prey caught unaware
By Marlan J Leon