The Knights of Winter

Snow falls. Memories of days spent in the wonderland of winter
rush back to my mind. Sledding down Miller’s hill,
skiing on cold cross-country outings in the mountains,
drinking hot chocolate and eating ‘smores with the gang
while we tried to thaw from the frozen activities
in front of a roaring fire.

Sweet images of youth bring back flashes of time in front of those fires.
We were invincible! Nothing dared to invade our winter.
Friendships formed bonds so special that our very activities
sheltered us from harm. Those days after the first snow glistened on the hill
were magical. Those days spent in play bonded our gang
forever. It made our homes into castles nestled there in the mountains.

Ah, the mountains!
Such majesty! In fall they seemed covered in fire.
When leaves turned beautiful shades of red, gold and orange, our gang
knew that time would soon come for the first snows of winter.
Our carnival playground would return there on our hill.
Our days would be spent with many anticipated activities.

It is said that we learn many social skills from those youthful activities.
Whether we were involved in King of the Mountain,
or chasing one another around the makeshift ice rink on the hill
we forever formed bonds that were forged by those winters' fires.
Bonds strong as steel; bonds tempered with the Golden Rule. Winter
always seemed to be the highlight of friendship and fun for the gang.

Liam, Brock, Jacob, Grady and Luke – our gang!
I replay those glorious activities
in my mind. The Knights of Winter!
If Merlin had materialized on our mountain
proclaiming us all “Sirs” we would not have been surprised. The fires
of empathy thrived in the snow. An understanding began there on the hill.

An understanding born of the knowledge that on this hill
friends looked out for friends! If one member of our gang
laughed, cried, hurt or rejoiced we all did so. Fires
of loyalty burned bright fed by the camaraderie of our activities.
Our kingdom in the mountains
flourished each winter.

Flashes of time surrounded by snow and ice while our gang
was involved in play that was kindled in the fires
of friendship! We laughed together and forged the metal of our youth.

Form: Sestina
Required by this month's contest rules.

Sestina
The sestina is a strict ordered form of poetry, dating back to twelfth century French troubadours. It
consists of six six-line (sestets) stanzas followed by a three-line envoy. Rather than use a rhyme
scheme, the six ending words of the first stanza are repeated as the ending words of the other five
stanzas in a set pattern. The envoy uses two of the ending words per line, again in a set pattern.

First stanza, ..1 ..2 ..3 ..4 ..5 ..6
Second stanza, ..6 ..1 ..5 .. 2 ..4 ..3
Third stanza, ..3 ..6 ..4 ..1 ..2 ..5
Fourth stanza, ..5 ..3 ..2 ..6 ..1 ..4
Fifth stanza, ..4 ..5 ..1 ..3 ..6 ..2
Sixth stanza, ..2 ..4 ..6 ..5 ..3 ..1

Concluding tercet:
middle of first line ..2, end of first line ..5
middle of second line ..4, end of second line..3
middle if third line ..6, end of third line ..1