Preference

I have always loved most autumn weather,
fall colors and falling leaves,
crisp autumn air,
like a tonic after swelter and sweat.

And winter, too, do I much prefer to summer,
the ice and snow
that softens the winter landscape,
black lines like an artist’s show.

Spring, too, I welcome:
the return of birds, buds and blossoms,
and softer air
that caresses rather than lashes.

Although summer is the time for ice cream,
raising puppies swimming in quarries,
it can be too hot.
It’s the season of the hardest work
when it comes to work.