In shadows of decay
The summer fades in autumn skies
September embers kindled
Mingled with October’s blood

The whispering grass, the falling leaves,
The colors we deny
Resurrecting lonely bones
When winter is enough

In seasons of despair
We do not care for brighter days
The eyes betray the senses
As we long for something strange

For beauty feeds illusion
Mixed emotions turn to gray
We see the world as wanting
In kaleidoscopes of change

Now ghosts surround your dwelling
Decorations for the dead
Celebrating spirits
Trapped inside All Hallows’ Eve

With gifts of vain imaginings
And monsters under beds
Children building mysteries
From stories they believe

In frosted window panes
The moon reflects what could have been
Skeletal horizons bleeding
Forests…void of leaves

There are no stars to wish upon
No colors to be seen
As red succumbs to winter white
And holidays we grieve

Now circling round the seasons
Sees his pockets full of holes
His collar’s pulled up high
To keep the snowfall off his neck

Your feet and fingers freezing,
Ice surrounds his tortured soul
Escape into the local pub…
You beg the barkeep for a shot

Reluctantly, he pours one,
Then another, just for luck…
But luck departed long ago
And stole your Christmas cheer

Some holly leaves and twinkling lights
And dreams compared to what
You swallow down without a sound
But keep your devils near

Now, back into the city streets
The scene is much the same
The moon betrays the stars again
The sky is not your friend

The winter white screams mercy
But it hides a wealth of pain
While Christmas is a marker
For a hurt that never ends

Seasons are a state of being
No fields of healing hues
And colors are a memory
Like the family he once knew

And shelters are for homeless souls
As bodies are for graves
And stories are an afterthought
For lives, we’ve never saved

TM DiSarro
©2025 TM DiSarro/MindScapes Publishing
For an IG prompt by Glass Of Mead