Autumn Thoughts

Autumn's fiery reds and golds
Faded fast
Replaced by burnished maroons and browns
As Winter announced it's icy arrival

The sun burned down on 
The frolicking leaves in their last dance
Many still lingered to catch the warm rays

Most trees were not yet bare,
But I could feel the presence of Winter
As if it was disguised and would burst 
Through in its pristine white

My eyes could see the chill of the season
In the darkened foliage that clung tenaciously 
To the swaying branches.
Harbingers of finger- numbing days and nights.

My mind refused to see the specter beneath the
Panorama of colors that
Overwhelmed my senses. 
It raced on and pretended the swirl of leaves was
Like the cherry blossom petals that gently fall
On a bright spring day
Skipping the bitter cold of the days to come
Preferring to warm itself in the distant breezes of May.

Barbara Ehrentreu's Questions:

1.Can you feel the presence of Winter sufficiently here?  I imagined it to be almost like a person skulking around in the darkness.
2. In the last line it originally read  "Warming itself in the....  Should I change it back or keep the line as it is now?