Snow Slide

Written for December 2009 "Quotation Inspiration: Official Contest" 

Snow provokes responses that reach right back to childhood.
~Andy Goldsworthy


I was a wee one, off to see the snow.
Early one morn, I was bundled up warm.
To school I went, for the day-long field trip.
Truly, I was the essence of excitement.
Bounding in new boots, I did slip ‘n slide.
The kids laughed, but didn’t spoil my fun.

No teasing could deter me; I was having fun.
Soon I would be playing in fluffy white snow.
Onto the bus, to our seats we did climb and slide.
Others removed coats, I snuggled down all warm.
Bouncing, no one could contain their excitement.
We had been waiting almost forever for this trip.

Getting there felt like such a short trip.
We played games like slug bug for fun.
The teacher called over the excitement,
“Buddy time! Stay together on the snow!”
Outside, I instantly missed being warm.
But I laughed as the others started to slide.

They fell on their butts as I watched their icy slide.
Across the parking lot, we tried not to fall or trip.
Some kids dashed for the lodge to get warm
while others ran to the field to have some fun.
I hesitated, but I was here to see some snow.
Running, my heart beat fast from the excitement.

Stepping onto the white, from me fled all excitement.
My feet came out from under me as I began to slide.
The whole field was ice; not a flake of fluffy snow.
An unseen branch caused me to have a nasty trip.
As I fell, I wished that I was back home having fun
where the ground was soft and the air so warm.

Inside the lodge, my frozen limbs started to warm.
The kids’ voices were filled with fear, not excitement.
Enduring the medical attention was anything but fun,
The alcohol burned like skin on a playground slide.
I thrashed out in pain; my wound had ruined the trip.
During my temper tantrum, I shouted, “I hate snow!”

Needless to say, I do not like the snow as I prefer to be warm.
I’ve been invited on many a trip, but decline such excitement.
I remember my fateful slide, knowing safer ways to have fun.

~~~

Sestina poem: Last word of the lines repeat in the following pattern for 6 stanzas:
ABCDEF, FAEBDC, CFDABE, ECBFAD, DEACFB, BDFECA,

Envoi: Final stanza is 3 lines with a word in the middle and at the end of each line:
AB/CD/EF.

My Chosen Words:
A. Snow
B. Warm
C. Trip
D. Excitement
E. Slide
F. Fun