In each the courage for on-coming Fall...
Not lightly do deer leave hoofprints behind
In searching for, claiming, thick stands of trees
Promising shelter. Sunshine days turn leaves,

Once green, to gold-flecked yellow, reddened flame.
Bold travesty. Colorful, barren cold,
Misted, creeping by degrees. Shorter days
Giving way to longer, chillier stays

Of nights, laced with owls eyeing small shadows,
Huddled, not invisible to hunger.
With an elegant, slicing swoop, the life
Becomes life, twining seasonal cycles

In rythmn, as each, apart, dance through Time.
A doe uncurls, still cold, into sunshine.

elysabeth faslund

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/nature-s-fall-to-winter-sonnet/