I SEE YOU NOW

You were hiding in the summer - 
green among the green pines,
anonymous.
You danced incognito 
in a chorus line of trees,
arms around each other
in a pine forest cancan.
Now I see
you've lost your anonymity.
The frosting ground
has sent a thrill of cold
along your roots
and shuddering through your branches,
shocking your follow-the-crowd green
into a star-burst of pirates' plunder,
checkering the hills
with your lemon and olive,
champagne and claret,
buff and butterscotch.
I see you now
you  color-bearers
shining among the jade green pines
and bowing to my applause.