Winter Transformation

To all things on Earth there are those
seasons that Nature is so attached to as
their proprietor, setting the stage for each in
her inimitable manner then calling forth
her elements to add their vital touches
that so clearly distinguish those seasons.
The elements propose and Nature disposes
as she sees fit and occasionally she cannot
choose between order and disorder beyond
the impulse to waver between the two in
occasional cranky moods when nothing quite
serves to suit the purpose she has not yet
herself decided upon. And so it was with
this winter day in the forest, a woodland
enchanted with itself in its winter robes
of sparkling white as befits an icy landscape
flaunting its unrivalled beauty like an aloof 
aristocrat, not yet aware that the stillness 
of the wood under a snow-clouded afternoon 
was on schedule to alternate wildly from 
clear to cloud as the sun glanced brilliant 
light shafts above the forest canopy in brazen
contest with assertive clouds prepared to 
release their burden. A powerful ally of the 
cold and the clouds roared its allegiance 
blasting the forest to become invisible hidden 
by the opaque screen of white crystals
released from the trees to shroud the
atmosphere in howling gusts of wind.