Fade Into Memory

You expected to be sad in the fall,
as summer ended,
a chill descended
brisk and biting,
slowly overpowering
the long warm days
beneath the golden sun.

Instead, you found beauty
in the rusty scattered leaves,
the crystallized frost
glistening in the dawn.
You felt cozy by the fire in the hearth,
sipping warm spiced cider
on the season's first chilly evening.
No melancholy, only contentment,
as another year
began to wind down
and fade into memory.