In spring and summer I may unfaithful be

Take nature for my lover and woo the Willow tree.

In spring and summer my spirit flies with the dove

And to the flowers and birds and trees I will give all my love.

In spring my blood does tingle in my veins

To songs of love that echo through the trees coursed by the kisses of the perfumed rain and soft caresses of the gentle breeze.

And as spring into summer fades and the sweet doves bill and coo

When deer play in the forest glades my love is highest too.

But summer is a fragile thing its beauty matches thine and as it fades as yours will do each year anew is mine.

When the tall grass sways and whispers and beloved summer chills

When underfoot upon the morn is crisper with sorrow my heart fills.

And as the trees let fall their leaves as tears are shed when crying

I feel it then when autumn mourns that my sweet love is dying.

Then as I try to ponder summers dream

I contemplate the thought of winters grasp.

The long and lonely nights of natures sleep

Will leave me cold and all alone at last.

David Otter

Circa 1970