The first frost has come and gone
and the temperatures are still cool on the skin
it leaves behind dead foliage both in and out of the ponds
where their was a mass of greenery taller than a man
is now a beaten down unrecognizable mess.

Everything will need to be cut back
and discarded on the pile set up for all dead stuff
where it will slowly rot away
turning into a rich humus to be added to the plants
to help the new growth that will occur in the Spring.

Such is the beauty of Nature where everything has its use
new growth reborn through the rotting remains of the old
to fill and replace the empty spaces created by Mother Nature
while she goes through her endless cycles
as she has done throughout time immemorial.