A Winter's Tale

Autumnal shroud of mist and darkest rain
No sun or sky, just winter's cold refrain
Wraps up the warmth and hides it out of sight
Now summer's gone and cold begins to bite

Winds chase the clouds cross moonlit crystal sky
And driving rains too strong for birds to fly
The only sound the silence of the frost
That touches everything now summer's haze is lost

The insulation of the snow comes soon
And crunches underfoot below the moon
At dead of night the owl is in despair
The dormouse hides away from frozen air

A hungry fox with quiet step drifts by
No chance of food will miss his radar eye
Alas the only prey he hunts tonight
Are shadows playing tricks in ghostly light

At sunrise comes a picture painted white
Of frozen webs and icy stalactite
The snowflakes blow in flurries on the breeze
And water drops that venture out will freeze

The robin flits from tree to tree in hope
That someone tied some bacon to a rope
The hardened earth will not give any help
Till spring is come and winter's icebox melts