by Pat Severin

My favorite season has always been fall
and not just the beautiful colors but all
of the smells in the air both outside and in,
The crisp autumn air, kid’s voices, the din
Of shouts and the squeals as they jump in the leaves,
The speedy transition from short to long sleeves.
Noses and cheeks a bright shade of pink.
The mud on my shoes I rinse off in the sink.
I recall my sweet childhood and how that all felt
The joy of the snowfall, the dread of the melt.
But not like the knowing that spring’s far away
Or knowing this chill that I’m feeling will stay.
Accepting the fact that I must wear a sweater
As I hear winter whisper, “Our cold’s going to get her!”
But resigned to it all, I’ll think then of Christmas,
Celebrating the Child’s not far in the distance.
Instead of my grousing about being cold,
Reminiscing of childhood and thinking I’m old,
I’m glad I soaked in all of God’s autumn splendor,
So now to His beautiful winter surrender.

Pat Severin is a retired Christian school teacher who serves her Lord in many ways. These have included school, church and teen ministries and her current personal ministry of creating cards that include her original poems of encouragement. These she sends out weekly to those going through difficult life struggles. 

In addition to her Christian poetry contributions to the Agape Review, she has been published in the Clay Jar Review, Thewayback2ourselves, and Pure in Heart Stories, which features Christian poetry and stories for children. She has been published in many of the Southern Arizona Press Anthologies, in the book called I Chose You: Imperfectly Perfect Rescue Dogs and their Humans and will be featured in the upcoming book, Chicken Soup for the Soul: Lessons I Learned from My Dog. Pat is a member of SCBWI, the Society of Children’s Book writers and Illustrators.