Hope

Once all the earth was in a glorious summer,
never ceasing to please with trees heavily laden
with sweet fruits, huge fields of ambrosial blossoms
like thick silken carpets, and the golden beams
of sunlight streaming through the interlaced boughs,
signifying a glorious age of serene prosperity.

But then.

Then, with the last crisp, red, juicy apple
plucked from its mother tree came a cold, biting
rush of wind, a gale that swept through the world
so quickly, it caused the bright, verdant green leaves
atop the strong, sturdy trees to wither into reds
and golds and browns and fall, fall so far to the cool,
frosted ground, where the sun's rays had as little
an influence to warm as a single thread to clothe.
And so did the earth fall into autumn.

But the whirlwind was not yet satisfied with its work.

After once surveying all the faded, shrunken glory
of the world that had had previously been the
crown jewel of its kind, the devious gust proceeded
further in its detrimental destruction and stirred up
dark, ominous clouds full to bursting with small,
white, freezing flakes that would melt at warmth and
seep through layers of wool and coat all the rough
branches in a white, crystalline blanket, stiffening
the living giants in a casing of smooth icy shards.
Thus did the earth slip into winter.

But the earth would not be defeated so easily, though
all hope seemed to flee at the bitter cold.

It was then, during the deepest, darkest point of
this dreary season, that a miracle happened.
Out of the landscape of white, gray, and brown, a small,
tiny, minuscule seed took root, and began to sprout forth
into a green leaf gilded, as it seemed, with a silver shadow.
Though the furious wind did its best to destroy this
slight ray of hope with even more terrible storms
and hail and snow and ice, this did avail nothing, but
strengthened the seedling so that it did bloom and flourish,
a burgeoning symbol of life.

Once more did the sun shine gold upon the earth's surface,
and once more did the trees bloom with all their
green finery and sweet-scented blossoms, and once more
did the endless fields come to life with vivid, soft flowers,
all because that a single, brave seed took root.