She stood alone in the dark
until they opened their eyes

Light blazed aglow with their waking

She held them in her bosom
nursing them with her being

She felt their warmth
and grew with it
 
She was like a sister and like a mother
Feeding off their light, off their love

Her sprouts sprang like teeth,
slow and itchy
they all played   

and laughed and danced 
and sweat and flourished

the days were long for they were restless,
the nights were short, they barely slept
 
The light fell with their eyelids
yellow, orange, red
and left with their sleep,
all dark, again,
only to come back
a flurry of colors
when their eyes opened once again
 
like winks, the days passed
quick and without notice
they grew,
the sprouts, the teeth,
each child 
and Nature with them. 
 
They laughed so much their eyes watered
and tears filled the sky
She swelled,
a feast of fruit,
they tasted,
sweets galore
 
When they all napped, the day eclipsed,
but if even one stayed awake while others slept,

they could see lights shining in the dark
like a thousand fireflies 
and a eye
gently glowing
far above
in the jet black sky.
 
They ate and laughed and danced
for days and days til they grew tired,

The days drooped with their eyelids, growing shorter.
Less of them came to play with Nature,
the games grew scarcer,
the light went colder
 
She knew they must rest
but longed for their company
she sighed gusts of wind
and slowly withered, red and yellow,
less and less they came to play
until none of them came at all
 
She was all alone now
no dances, no laughter,
no sweat, no warmth
they mostly slept,
the days more dark than light
the cold left her bare
 
She wept snow and cried blizzards
She bellowed snowstorms,

In the cold sky 
She could see their dreams,
as vivid as waking,
a strip of dawn fluttering in the void
 
But she prevailed

The long sleep renewed their spirits,
once more they came to play,
more and more joined in the games  
shy at first then all at once
light prevailed again,
the days grew longer, warmer, hotter.
 
Sad to see her bare and weak, they wept showers
happy to be back together, she swole
with their tears, with their love, with their heat
she sprouted again and flowers overcame her

Once more, they laughed and sang,
and danced and played,
and sweat and ate and flourished
like it was to be again
and many countless times.

Initially written in 2015.

The idea was “what if seasonal mood changes generated the seasons and not the other way around”, and I went with it.