Beginning to end

One fine morning in spring
A little life awoke to the world
Two tiny leaves on a slender stem
Eyes tinged with sleepy red
Tender green unfurled to sunshine
Swaying awkwardly in gentle breeze

Even the sun watched amusedly
Resting lazily on a bed of clouds
The winds played along too
Gently stroking it with mischief
Softly whispering a merry melody
As rapturous notes echoed around

The sun grew stronger through summer
Frail tendrils became sturdy sprigs
Now swathed in a cloak of green
Gathering the breeze in its folds
It stood upright with arms outstretched
Mocking the sun, daring to touch the sky

Bright days and melancholy nights
The beaming sun and pensive moon
It loved the world in which it grew
Each day brought the vast blue closer
Each new twig was hope anew

Then one day, the sky began to brood
Baleful clouds rumbled in muted fury
Casting menacing shadows of doom
Time stood still in ominous silence
The young tree watched, awestruck

Tension ripped through air
A flash of light, a peal of laughter
Sent cracks across the grim visage
The spell was broken, the secret revealed
And the winds began to blow again

Then, at last, came tears of joy
At times tentative, belligerent otherwise
Drops of love drenched the earth
Life sprouted forth at every touch
The world wore attires of jade

The tree shook its own robes of green
Each gust brought a new trance to bear
Drunk on youth, it swayed with the rain
Rustling its leaves in a song of its own
Losing itself in blissful merriment

It seemed a dream that wouldn’t end
But autumn was merciless as ever
It crept hideously, in sinister silence
The winds blew and moaned
Stoking an inferno of blazing red

The young tree could but watch
As brilliant green slowly succumbed
To lowly ochre, then to motley brown
Enveloped in icy pall, it stood still
In resolute defiance of the frigid sky

Frosty fingers tore leaves away, one-by-one
Glacial spears hollowed what was left
Even the clouds found it too much to bear
And they sadly fell in flakes of white
Forming a shroud on all life

Yet, the tree stood
As the sun lit days without warmth
And the winds howled in mad turmoil
Drowning the world in surreal silence
There was strange peace in death

Suddenly one day, the clouds parted
To reveal the sun of benevolent warmth
The earth smiled back, gloom melted away
Faint strains of life began to resound
And arose to deafening crescendo

Awakened by a rush of spring breeze
The little tree found new life
In the sight of two tiny leaves
Unfurling at the end of a scraggy twig
And knew it was spring again