"Summer's End"

I once thought Summer's end

Quite a cruel thing,

Robbing the fertile earth 

Of all the beauty brought by Spring.

I once found nothing tempting,

In the colors of fading life,

And yearly I would meet fall's slow ascent

With great bitterness and strife.

My soul strove against,

All that was not young and bright,

Little suspecting that it was,

My own peace that I did fight.

For lives, as well as leaves, turn,

And so I found did mine,

And discovered that the dropping bloom,

Does not hurt the vine. 

Now I love and cherish,

The rest from the madness of Spring,

And the gentleness and peace,

Late Summer and Autumn bring.

Things I didn't understand in youth,

Are beautiful in maturity,

And as the patient earth yields each year,

I find I am in good company.