Autumn, the king, is surely dying.

He clings to life... You see that he’s trying.

He lies in bed. So feeble so weak.

He cannot move and barely can speak.

Those who love him gather round.

The rattle of his breath, the only sound.

Then Lord Winter enters with a smile.

And says, “Good king, you’ve got just a while.

Don’t be scared, you’ll rule again soon...

I hope you don’t mind if I stay for your doom.”

Autum looks up with disgust on his face,

“Please don’t be cruel. Rule with some grace.”

“Oh, hush now, my friend, for it’s time to sleep.”

Those who stand close can’t help but weep.

Autumn’s breath labors, tears fill his eyes...

“Death is close now. Say your goodbyes.”

Winter’s cold hand touches his head,

He claps and he laughs. “King Autumn is dead.”

His smile spreads, sinister and wide...

For he’s in control, and you cannot hide.

A wave of his hand. Gold skies turn grey.

And the world full of brightness, starts to decay.

The days grow short, and the nights grow long.

The cold is too bitter. The silence is wrong.

Upon Autumn’s throne, a new king will reign.

He lives for the cold, and relishes pain.

With a crown of ice upon his head.

He laughs at the bones in Autumn’s bed.

A flick of his finger... Snow starts to fall.

A blanket of white covers you all.

Winter takes only the weak and the ill.

For he believes it his right... It is his will.

The flowers all die, and the trees stand bare.

Winter sits watching, fixed with a stare.

He settles in for the long months ahead.

Knowing food is scarce, and poor go unfed.

The snow is a paradox... So pure and so clean.

Yet merciless, silent, and cruelly serene.

The days drag on, one by one.

Winters on his throne, for he is not done.

“A new storm tonight shall envelop the world.”

Then the wind howled, and the snow swirled.

“You call me cruel, yet I bring rest.

For the world must sleep, to be at its best.

What you call death, I call reprieve...

For only through frost can life conceive.”

Then one pale dawn, Winter met the new king.

The whole world rejoiced. For his name was Spring.