The Turning

There’s Something melancholy

In the turning of the year,

Not Just Farewell To Summer;

Azure Skies, and Sunlight clear,

But Something elemental,

Somber days that clarify

That all things in our universe

Are saying their “goodbye.”

The shifting of the planets,

Thermal rumblings deep in earth,

The scent of rain on cooling soil

Speak of endings, not of birth.

And as we kick through fallen leaves,

We’re thinking as we go

That in another week or two,

This surface may be snow.

Time alters, swift, irrevocably,

Still the same, year after year—

Somehow, we’re never ready

But nature’s schedule’s clear!

God’s seasons give variety

No human could arrange

But it seems the thing we fear the most

Is the threat of any change.

Why do we mourn for yesterday,

Was it so perfect, then

What did it have to offer

That could never come again?

Let’s give the waning year its due

For joys that it did bring,

But not despair of blessings

The new season’s offering!

For God’s still in His heaven

Fervent prayers can be our guide

As to how we face the future

Keeping closely at His side.

And in God’s bright October sky

I see no clouds of fear

He’s removed the melancholy

From the turning of the year.

Read next: Endings

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