Poems About The Annual Seasons

Spring

My eyes reprise a splendid sight
As I enjoy a morning breeze,
A damsel dancing with delight
In fields of flowers past her knees.

She spreads her trailing gown around,
Which then displays a field of green;
The blooms ascending from the ground
Enhance and crown the stunning scene.

Her scent pervades the passing breeze
That gently glides among the leaves.
The birds that fled the winter's freeze
Return to sing atop the eaves.

I've waited long to see this day,
To feel the breath of life renewed,
Immersed in scents from spring's bouquet
Of early blooms so richly hued.

And while she warmly shares her charms,
I ponder verses I could sing.
Of those who yearn for winter's arms,
While I remain in love with spring.

Image by ELG21 via Pixabay

Poetic form: Quatrain

Winter

I saw her walk by me today,
And she was garbed in pearly white.
I paused as she began to dance
With gentle grace, to my delight.

She was so close, I felt her breath.
Her downy gown was at my feet.
What seemed like whispers in my ears
Were pleas from her to not retreat.

I had no love for winter days;
I'd shown in verse my deep disdain.
But then this moment came along;
From loathing her, I did refrain.

She held me captive in her arms
And softly kissed my naked cheek.
She then appealed with tears of ice,
No further words of hate to speak.

A sudden silence pierced my ears
As flakes of silk hung in the air.
Then myriad others joined with them,
Displaying winter's flowing hair.

I smiled and watched as she performed
Her ballet dance for me to see.
I then began to understand
Why winter fills the heart with glee.

Image by zanna-76 via Pixabay

Poetic form: Quatrain

Massachusetts State Poetry Society
2023 Arthur (Skip) Potter Memorial Contest - 2nd Place

Published at The Society of Classical Poets

August

A moment spawns forever views
Of days eternally like this.
I see sardonyx and chartreuse
Wherever you have sown a kiss
To chase away my days of blues.

I am inspired to pen your days
Of sultry heat and starry nights.
But though a field of words I graze,
Not one I find can reach your heights,
Nor blaze your chaise or light your fraise.

What words can I recite to you?
For you, O August, are ablaze
Because the sun has loved you too.
And so I hold no sway or ways
For words through poesy to coo.

chaise = horse-drawn carriage

fraise = decorative ruff worn at the neck

Image by Jill Wellington via Pixabay

Poetic form: Quintain - Sicilian

Winter's Last Goodbye

In fields of hay below a darkened sky,
Where scarecrows stand to guard the frigid night,
A sobbing winter blares a last goodbye.

As spring prepares to walk where lilies lie,
The storm has placed a coat of pearly white
In fields of hay below a darkened sky.

The ground abounds with snow that rises high,
And gales instill in hearts an awful fright.
A sobbing winter blares a last goodbye.

As dawn arrives, the storm is but a sigh,
A mournful wail that clings to morning light
In fields of hay below a darkened sky.

The trailing flakes of snow begin to die,
And children rush to view the snowy sight.
A sobbing winter blares a last goodbye.

The birds of early spring return to fly
And share their rhythmic songs that rise in flight.
In fields of hay below a darkened sky,
A sobbing winter blares a last goodbye.

Image by mollyroselee via Pixabay

Poetic form: Villanelle

End of Summer

When summer left and took her warming shawl,
The birds toward the south began to fly.
The leaves of wizened trees began to dye
As shorter days announced the hues of fall.

In town, a weary man lies down to rest;
His lawn, pristinely kept, begins to sleep.
But he recalls that there's more sod to reap
Before his pampered grass with snow is pressed.

But there across the street, a lawn, not kept,
Is dressed with nutsedge weed and carpet grass.
The drizzly morning sees the mower pass,
And one misty-eyed dandelion wept.

Image by MariaM31 via Pixabay

Poetic form: Quatrain - Enclosed Rhyme

Autumn's Hand

I reach across for autumn's hand
When leaves begin to ride the air,
To walk amid the changing land.

Though I yet have some days unplanned,
And winter waits to bring her glare,
I reach across for autumn's hand.

I pine for spring and summer sand,
But autumn calls, so I prepare
To walk amid the changing land.

The fallen leaves with red are tanned,
So till I meet with winter's stare,
I reach across for autumn's hand.

The frigid winds will come as planned
And trees will call with branches bare
To walk amid the changing land.

When summer yields to fall's demand
And towns prepare a Sunday fair,
I reach across for autumn's hand
To walk amid the changing land.

Image by ddzphoto via Pixabay

Poetic form: Villanelle

Autumn's Return

When summer ends its days of jade,
Announcing fall has now returned,
The trees prepare their annual blush,
And hues of red are soon discerned.

When autumn paints the waiting trees,
The verdant grass begins to sleep.
The birds migrate to southern lands,
And farmers see it's time to reap.

When shorter days have matched the nights,
An earthy scent imbues the air.
The piles of leaves are musky-sweet,
A fragrance cherished everywhere.

As parents watch their children play,
They muse about their youthful days,
When fall would bring the mounds of leaves
And laughter rose like songs of praise.

Image by Valiphotos via Pixabay

Poetic form: Quatrain

Winter's Hold

Her entry seems enchanting every year,
Arrayed in white to please the viewer's eyes,
But blight can soon replace that thin veneer,
Revealing days of gray in her disguise.
She walks around the town in stunning gowns
That drape the trees and make them bend and sway.
The colors autumn brings, like reds and browns,
Begin to fade in leaves that fly away.
Her flowing hair descends on barren trees,
Whose naked branches start to sag and bow.
But early spring can break her swaddling freeze
And ease her icy grip from every bough.
Her downy coat can seem like paradise,
But spring suspends the spell of her device.

Image by MabelAmber via Pixabay

Poetic form: Sonnet

November's Early Kiss

A symphony of brilliant red
October weaves like silken thread.
Those budding weeks of blushing trees
And yellow-orange leaves can ease
An aging mind to reminisce
About the years of youthful bliss.

But once October's leaves have spread,
November can be seen ahead.
It brings along the shorter days,
Of downy snow and morning haze,
Which pleases all who long for this,
To feel November's early kiss.

Image by Heibe via Pixabay

Poetic form: Couplet

An Autumn Path

The path he takes this early day
Is dressed in dew and straws of hay.
The morning mist obscures his view;
The barn, though near, seems far away.

The sleepy sun begins to rise,
And light prepares to climb the skies.
He sees the path much clearer now,
As life awakened fills his eyes.

He senses changes autumn brings,
A mix of scents from lovely things.
The air, perfumed by turning leaves,
Is fragrance loved by serfs and kings.

Above he hears migrating birds,
Their calls of joy, like soothing words.
They tell of lands where warmth awaits;
A transient home for flocks and herds.

The cows have stirred and move about,
And roosters crow as piglets rout.
A dog begins to run to him,
His faithful friend and eager scout.

So much to do while autumn stays,
Before the freeze of winter’s gaze.
And yet, for now, he walks the path,
And sings a psalm of morning praise.

Image by stux via Pixabay

Poetic form: Quatrain - Rubaiyat

Autumnal Days

Her return can be seen when trees
Begin to blush at summer's end.
A signal sensed with every breeze
When soothing, cooling nights portend
Her new return as leaves descend.

She stalls the days of winter's freeze
When trees, whose branches are ablaze,
Unveil their best with glorious ease.
A paradise that soon displays
What has adorned her gown and fraise.

Cerise and crimson leaves can please
The pleading eyes of all who yearn,
Who keep in wait for days like these,
To muse, to love, and also learn.
But short, too short, is her return.

Image by Free-Photos via Pixabay

Poetic form: Quintain - English

Winter's Breath

The sudden chill of winter's sigh
Caresses me when autumn flees.
My meager warmth she tries to pry,
While planting kisses, cold and dry;
With icy breath she starts to tease.

I'm bundled as I walk along
But still can feel her hands on me.
She whispers near my ears her song,
Her wintry hold upon me strong;
A frosty kiss she plants with glee.

But shortly I will see the one
Who warms my soul with her embrace.
As frigid winter ends her run,
Her icy tears will be undone,
When spring begins to kiss my face.

Image by TanteTati via Pixabay

Poetic form: Quintain

Seasons

O, stunning fall of saffron gowns
And crimson shades without compare,
You dress the leaves in scarlet browns,
The tears you'll shed at winter's glare.

Arrayed in pearly downy white,
She spreads her dress across the land.
Your tinted art will suffer blight
When you depart at her command.

But even she to spring will cede
When flowers rise on warming days.
For winter's dress cannot impede
The seeds that raise their arms in praise.

And still beyond the days of spring,
Of blossoms blushed in colors grand,
Her sister, summer, longs to bring
Her dress of jade and ocean sand.

Image by Noupload via Pixabay

Poetic form: Quatrain

Spring's Promise

Her softest kiss she offered me today
When warming rays embraced my longing heart,
But winter's frigid hands pulled us apart
When falling snow concealed the day in gray.
I begged for spring to share her calming glow
As winter spread her snowy gown on me,
But she just sauntered off amid the spree
And took her warmth to yield to frosty snow.

But as she left, I felt a parting kiss,
Which seemed to me to be her pledge of ease:
"Fear not my frigid sister's cold embrace,
For days she has before I take my place."
And so, as winter rides a gelid breeze,
I wait to feel the touch of warmth I miss.

Image by ArtTower via Pixabay

Poetic form: Sonnet - Petrarchan

When Spring Arrives

The songs of birds are heard outside
When spring arrives—a sprightly bride!
The budding flowers rise with pride,
Their brilliant colors amplified.

The rain revives the countryside,
Where verdant grass is spreading wide.
The rabbits, now with food supplied,
Step out with youngsters unified.

The insects crawl where they reside,
All types and shapes, divinely dyed.
The squirrels play, then run to ride
The arms the leafy trees provide.

I stroll as spring serves as a guide
To nature's beauty, magnified.
Tonight I'll dream, quite satisfied,
That early spring revived what died.

Image by Larisa-K via Pixabay

Poetic form: Quatrain - Monorhyme

Winter's Call

O, can you hear her? Yonder autumn days?
A siren's voice, as silent steps she takes?
Her nuanced hymn creates a frosty haze
And warns the trees to brace for pearly flakes.
She pairs her feigned allure with lovely sights,
Then softly laughs while stealing warmth from me.
I fear her touch, for long will be the nights.
She'll hold my face till spring can set me free.
And yet, her comely gown I yearn to see
As she performs her waltzes in the day.
So when she starts to dance amid the spree,
My heart applauds her dazzling white ballet.
Through autumn's haze, her call I faintly hear.
She pleads with me, her cold arms not to fear.

Image by DreamyArt via Pixabay

Poetic form: Sonnet

The Last Red Tear

One leaf remains atop this tree—
A lonesome guard, it seems to be.
I sense the frigid days ahead,
The winds of winter stirring free.

The fallen leaves that strew the ground
Begin to stir about and 'round.
But this one leaf is holding on,
Despite a freeze that can't be bound.

As seen with those before this guard,
Whose reddish face the wind has scarred,
Its strength to hold will surely fail,
And winter's door will be unbarred.

When winter's breath tomorrow nears
And frosty air with snow appears,
The leaf will yield to wintry winds,
The last of autumn's crimson tears.

Image by Kathas_Fotos via Pixabay

Poetic form: Quatrain - Rubaiyat

A Reminder of Autumn

I take a walk when dawn has tossed her veil
And signs of frost are seen along the trail.
The cooler air conveys that fall will leave,
Allowing winter's hands to chill the eve.

The brilliant colors left among the trees,
Composed of leaves that flutter in the breeze,
Now drop as winter's breath begins to blow,
Then glide to meet the ground to wait for snow.

The fading haze reveals the stunning art
Of colors left by fall to warm the heart.
But like the morning mist of early dawn,
This wondrous beauty, too, will soon be gone.

And when I'm past the entrance to the park,
Where colors range from dismal gray to dark,
I see a golden leaf beside a tree,
Reminding me how lovely fall can be.

Image by jplenio via Pixabay

Poetic form: Heroic Couplets

Autumn Tears

The changing scene at summer's end
Brings back the days of early fall.
The trees begin their yearly blend,
A mix of hues from autumn's shawl.

The countryside displays its leaves
Of golden yellow mixed with brown.
But others don the reds that please
The crowds that gaze at autumn's gown.

When autumn adds its shades of red,
Like crimson, scarlet, or cerise,
The artists on their canvas wed
The hues of fall—a masterpiece!

But then, when she has said goodbye,
The leaves begin to wilt and bend.
The crown she wore begins to die,
The final tears of autumn’s end.

Image by jplenio via Pixabay

Poetic form: Quatrain

Walking On A Rainbow

I hear the rustling of the leaves

While walking by the swaying trees.

They fall to dress the verdant ground,

And rainbow colors now abound.

My steps alight on autumn's gown

Of gold and yellow, orange-brown.

The hues of fall, with tints of red,

Are early tears the trees have shed.

I then return my thoughts to you

And wish that you had shared my view.

I smile while thinking we could walk

Atop this rainbow as we talk.

Image by Valiphotos via Pixabay

Poetic form: Couplet

And Heaven Cried

Fertile fields, once full of pride,
Die of thirst; the lands have dried.
Bare, undressed, no verdant grass;
Clouds of rain above them pass.

Others come from far away;
Silent prayers, the valleys send.
Bursts of tears were shed today;
Heaven cried, the land to mend.

Image courtesy of Pexel

Poetic form: Quatrain - Trochee

A Summer Day

Her white summer dress sways in the gentle breeze
As she bathes in the warmth of the rising sun.
The wind plays with the leaves of towering trees,
Where birds lay their eggs in nests adroitly spun.

Bright, blooming flowers in scented garments glow
And perfume the air as hummingbirds fly low.
Couples spread their blankets on the grassy field,
Where poems of endless love will be revealed.

Image by JillWellington from Pixabay

Poetic form: Rispetto

Lazy Summer Days

It's like a dream, this pleasant touch.
A balmy breeze can feel as such.
I'm standing at the ocean's edge,
A respite from the city's clutch.

A wave arrives, but soon it goes,
And sand cascades between my toes.
Euphoria causes me to smile
While breathing in the briny rose.

I love these lazy summer days
Of picnics, parks, and warming rays;
Of swimming, walks, and morning runs;
Of holding hands with hearts ablaze;

Of children playing with their dogs;
Of turtles basking, stretched on logs;
Of mothers baking cakes and pies;
Of ponds that echo throngs of frogs.

But summer won't forever last,
Yet here, the ocean's edge so vast,
It seems eternal runs the time
While standing still as waves recast.

Image by Pixabay

Poetic form: Quatrain - Rubaiyat