December
We were in Colorado for a fall visit, and one day we went to the Maroon Bells, and they were framed in a sea of beautiful golden aspens. Literally two days later, after a snowfall, we went back there, and the entire scene was gray and white. Sitting by the fire back at the house, I found this lovely chord progression, and the song came as inexorably as the seasons.
Days fading, winds changing, geese flying south proclaiming
Summer’s gone away
Cool mornings, leaves turning, faint smell of fires burning
Autumn’s turn to play
And though we know the snow will soon be falling
When winter’s chill arrives
These days amaze, ablaze in ways that make us
Thrill to be alive
Fall colors, soon over, leaving our landscape duller
As bright hues fade to gray
And winter will enter, become our cold tormentor
In its white beret
No fear, it’s clear that here we’re warm and cozy
Free from coming gloom
Our time sublime, we lie here by the fire
Safe inside our womb
Days grow shorter as winter takes its hold
Dusk, ever sooner, comes to pass
Those days, they just go by so fast
December, deep winter, the year’s last burning ember
With its darkness comes
Though Christmas presents us its cheer that briefly lifts us
Still, the year succumbs
And then the end descends, the clock strikes midnight
A kiss, then we must go
We sigh “good-bye”, and try to linger briefly
Then leave, alone