Before the Green

Each year in the interval between burnished autumn leaves

and the coming green of spring, earth lies in soft repose.

It clothes itself in quiet shades

as the blue hydrangea fades to pale.

Marsh grasses turn flaxen

or hold mists of linen and gray.

 

And tiny berries appear like bubbles in champagne

Whether early winter or early March,

taupe is our last moment of sleep before the bell chime of spring. 

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