Against the Coming of Winter

Fire in the heavens, and fire along the hills,
Geese and ducks fly overhead, honking falling from their bills;
Wrap the warmer woolens now to protect you from night’s chills
Against the coming of winter.

The flames of fall’s fleet foliage are quenched,
The iron fist of first black frost has clenched;
The glorious sheet of the autumn sky has been frenched
Against the coming of winter.

Black earth lies dormant under fallen leaves.
Ceres slips into sorrow as she mournfully grieves
Her daughter’s vernal sojourn with seducers and with thieves
Against the coming of winter.

And what rôle do I act in this seasonal play
As I watch the warm blue sky replaced with frozen gray
And anticipate the darkness of the shortened day
Against the fall of winter?

I shall be the seeds of the pomegranate red
That kept poor Persephone in Hades’ marriage bed
While the world above rolled over and played dead
Against the coming of winter.