6
Our Kingdom
The loud clear laughter that echoed through
Our woods lit up
Our trees like our watery sunlight, warmed us from a place deep within
Our soft coats.
Our little gloved hands, with snow sticking to them, assembled the hulking logs against
Our rocks, where they hunkered among the trees,
And built our palace from the forest.
Our walls were tall and strong and sheer, cliffs only we could climb
And we defended them,
With weapons we snapped off of trees and scooped from piles of snow
On the ground.
And when the deer ran like a river through
Our trees, with their wide eyes like pools of dark water in their sleek fur,
They were ours, too.
And we shivered where we stood, and we watched our kingdom flourish around us
Until the bell tolled and our parents called
And we left our race of footprints in the snow as we ran for shelter
And warm food
And hot chocolate.
By Andrea Hines