tender spring warms into blade-green summer,
bringing life to barren fields and hungry streams.
then summer blazes into fall,
lighting a glory of gold from green.
cold winds snatch from trees their fiery tapestries,
etching dark branches against an iron-gray sky.
when winter at last eases its icy grasp.
it melts into spring that has come alive in line 6, what causes the bare branches to show against the
sky?

a. the sharpness of the blue afternoon

b. the sharp contrast when the cold wind strips the
branches

c. the beauty of the sky's color

d. the fiery tapestries of the fall leaves