This poem was originally published in the May 1962 issue of the Beacon Lights.

God gave green;

And life is green:

And grass and plants and trees are green.

Life is green.

Grass turns gold and brown

And leaves turn gold and crimson:

Dying is beautiful.

Withering grass and falling leaves;

And bare trunks silhouette the sky:

Death is black,

Till whiteness fills the air and earth

And snow-clothes clothe the barren trunks

And blanket all the grass and leaves.

Death is white:

And death is beautiful.