A single tree stands alone in our yard.

A crabapple tree, beautiful yet impermanent, its blossoms lasting merely ten days.

They come in many types, nine hundred or more.

Ours is called a “Snowdrift”.

The cycle begins in spring when beautiful buds first bloom,

Its white colors momentarily captivate and then blossoms simply cease

As flowers float gently to the ground, petals scatter beneath their reach.

One final display of beauty as spring gives way to summer.

In fall its colors are altered yet again

As the trees radiate reds, oranges, and yellows.

Tiny leaves begin to bear the fruit of their namesake, ”crabapples”.

A deep red glow as seasons shift to more frigid times.

Gentle, white snow falls slowly to the ground,

And the tree is now dry, cold, and brown.

Standing still, swaying slightly with the breeze,

Waiting idly for the sun’s warmth to revive it once again

Golden sunshine seeps through the clouds,

And the tree reaches for the light, coming to life once more.

Its leaves now green, preparing again,

For the time in which their buds first bloom.