Welcome Autumn and Winter and Cozy Family Gatherings

This poem took me a couple months to write. I started working on it after a walk in the fields with Luna, in which I noticed all the different flowers that were going dormant for the winter. They really do look beautiful, even as their time in this season ends. I think I got stuck in the middle of the poem because I didn’t know exactly where to go with the rest of the stanzas. I wrote the first stanza one day, the second stanza the next day, the first two lines of the third stanza a couple weeks later, made a lot of edits, and then finally finished the poem last week at school. I’m happy with the results, although it did take me a while to arrive at the right words.

I hope you enjoy “Welcome Autumn and Winter and Cozy Family Gatherings,” as you look forward to all three!

Welcome Autumn and Winter and Cozy Family Gatherings

The time of the aster is over
The day of the milkweed is through
The night of the primrose is dying
Welcome autumn, and winter, too

Frost paints my cosmos with skill and ease
Bounteous coats grace pegs by the door
Newly-bought shoes and squishy wet boots
Give life to the entryway floor

My house feels warm and smells like ginger,
Cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom,
I add my coat to the laden pegs,
And wait for my houseguests to come

To the scents in the kitchen I add
Garlic, onion, and olive oil,
Stirring, frying, and softening as
I wait for the water to boil

Through the kitchen window I see fields
Of grasses stretched out like the sea,
Rolling up to the neighbor’s tree line,
The season ending in glory

Over these poplars of fiery hues
Geese split the dimming, fading sky;
My family gathers together,
Sharing spaghetti and pumpkin pie.

Photo: My entryway