8. Winter Tale

Snow clustered around my feet, crumbling where I stepped. The slight smell of wood smoke touched my nose. And although I listened hard, no sound reached my ears. So there I was walking through the thick swirling snow.

I love winter. I love snowboarding. Your first carving turns of the season. Going to the mountains, I think about what I would like to accomplish today. Do I want to ride the trails or the terrain park. Maybe I want to ride powder.

Patrick Clark

Winter
A time for fun
1 single week off from school
freedom
outside
playing
sledding
snowball fights
kids play all day
chest deep in this cold fur blanket
bundled up so tightly
waddling
in bright colored jackets
hidden behind snow drifts
falling into little tunnels
popping up right behind you
as shadowy strangers
lurking
in these giant clouds

The Tales of Winter

Winter comes once a year. It comes with love, presents, family gatherings and parties. Well, Christmas does any way. Winter brings joy, happiness, and always comes with a white snow.

Nicole Medeiros P1 WINTER TALE

Our lady of the snows,
Make us your magic
We wish we may have this wish tonight
that you may cast down your whitewash beauty,
On this eve so bare

Our lady of the snows,
Make us our magic.
We wish we may have this wish tonight.
That you may cast down your whitewash beauty,
On this eve so bare

Our lady of the snows,
Make us our magic.
We wish we may have this wish tonight.
That you may cast down your whitewash beauty,
On this eve so bare

Winter, cold, whiteness
White blanket covers the ground
Flakes slowly drift down

Mother’s White Blanket
Snow falls heavy from a frost bitten cloud
Children dance and sing aloud
The first one of the seasons come
And cheeks are red and fingers numb
A small boy opens his mouth up wide
And lifts his head up to the sky
As a small snow flake drifts slowly downward
and lands gently without a cower
The heat from inside gives a puff of white

By Celeste LeBlanc
Lake Region High School, Grade 12

There was this little girl who was about eight years old and lived in a farm house on top of a huge hill. She had three older siblings, two brothers and a sister. It was a winter day with the sunlight reflecting off the snow, blinding her. Bundled up with sweaters, jackets, thick wool socks, sweat-pants, snow-pants, hats, mittens, and scarves, she wanted to go sledding, but someone had to go with her. The two brothers came out of the house, running toward her and she panicked. She tried to move but her short legs in the high snow wouldn’t let her. The impact of the boys put her face down in the cold, white cloud. After she got herself in the upright position, they asked her if she wanted to go sledding. Of course, she said. That is what she wanted to do.

The best time of the year
Poignant forest pine
Glittering tinsel
Tinkling of sleigh bells
Sound of merry voices
“Merry Christmas” they say

Outside, snow falls to earth
Myriad of flakes
Unique and separate
We run outside through the snow
Our clothes soaked through
But we remain jubilant

On the ground, make angels
Angels descended from heaven

Bryce Bandish
Winter Tale

The winter in Vermont can be harsh, and there are couple of things I like to do. Family in Vermont is important to me, my time in VT is short compared to the other four generations, who have helped to change my life in VT. A perfect day in VT happens in the winter in a little log cabin and this is how it would all play out.

Michael Patnaude
Charlotte Central School, Grade 8

His bright blue eyes gleaming at the white wonderland
Sitting on the sparkling speckled ice
No worries
No stress
Just pure relaxation
Nothing comes to mind
Just him and the powdered hills
Gleaming mountains with black dots
No noise with the half-eaten moon
With the lightly darkened sky and the shining stars
He cannot fall asleep

By Brittany Gates
Lebanon High School, Grade 12

The storm came from the North,
The snow clenched at my feet until I couldn't feel my toes.
I longed to be home by the fires warmth and I'll never forgive Jack
Frost for nipping at my nose.

What Do I Love About Winter?
By Paige Randall

For many, winter is a time of change and new experiences.
I’ve come to feel this way myself.
When the first snowflake falls,
it begins to change all that was there before.

The Christmas lights being strung up around town,
like small, glowing stars,
reflect off the fresh blanket of snow,

By Justinah Duhaime
Hartford High School, Grade 12

My favorite black maple in the back yard is a miserable
drunk.
Gangly and alone, she licks the intoxicating snow
flakes from her toes, as
her body is relentlessly stabbed, her syrup inevitably stolen.

In the mud of spring, she is unwillingly
sober.
But when the green meadow warms her soul, at last,
she gathers her thread and sews herself a thousand gloves,
gracefully protecting her fingers, cracked and fragile from a winter binge.

Cheer and joy can be felt in the air,
Christmas quickly approaches
Lights go up, as snow falls down
The excitement is overwhelming

Christmas Eve comes, with family all around
Love fills the air
The night grows old, the stars come out
Snow forms patterns across the delicate sky

I glance outside, wanting to be a part of it all

Everything is covered in ice,
And the world is of a crystal blanket.
We stay inside,
As the coldness diffuses through the air.
It is the time we become closer to our families,
And further from reality.
Many thoughts pass through our heads,
As we witness the world changing.
We celebrate warm ceremonies,
With family meals and hot chocolate.
It is the time when we count our blessings,

I wake up and look at the clock
It is way too early to go downstairs
I slowly get out of my bed and look out the window
Snow gently falls down to the ground
It is silent outside on this Christmas morning
I hear a quiet knock on my door
I walk over to my door and slowly open it
It is my brother, and he looks so excited
“Is it too early to wake up Mom and Dad?” my brother asks

The windows rattled in their panes and my grandmother’s china tinkled in the cabinet. My bed vibrated as I lay in it, excited for what I would see when I gazed through the frost bitten window to the white landscape outside. Cricket, having never heard the rumble of a snowplow before, was startled by this disturbance and began to bark, her black fur wrinkling on her round forehead.

By Moya Cavanagh
Browns River Middle School, Grade 8

Winter’s dress
Is a gown of grace
A veil of white
To hide her face
Gleaming satin skirts
Billowing,
Hems of frosty lace
Pursuing.
Garbed in
Winter’s
Icy Dress,
Chilled to the bone
You lay in wait
Upon that hill,
That winter’s day

For the conquest of winter
Is difficult to escape,

Bright suns, summer days, and rising hilarity fade to a hush once the winter comes.
At first, it comes in nice and slowly; just easing its way in, testing the waters.
You know that winter is nearing and you know the ice is creeping up behind you.
But you cannot stop it. No one can stop it. Its inevitability crushes you.

By Meghan Dempsey
Rice Memorial High School, Grade 9

She walks along the darkened path,
Shiv’ring through thin fibers.
Her breathing hastens to heavy gasps
That show the foggy warmth
Evaporating between each breath.

She reaches for the swelling midriff,
And looks up at the man before her,
Desperation and need pleading in dark eyes.

A sick feeling of anticipation twisted in my stomach, my eyes jumped from tree to tree, and my small black dog darted between my legs, moving so fast she was only a black blur against the browning ground. I’d been waiting for winter to finally come, but it was already December 23 and there was no sign of snow, everything was brown when it should be white.

By Kim Horne
Lebanon High School, Grade 12

I’ve never been able to make up my mind about winter. I know that it isn’t my favorite season, but I can’t say that I completely hate it either. I love goofing off with my friends with a snowball fight, sledding down a hill made slippery from the snow, making snow angles, and especially coming inside to relax and sip hot cocoa while the feeling to your fingers comes back through the hot cup they’re grasped around.

Winter changes people.
Maybe it’s because everything changes, from the temperature to the time of the day to some people’s skin tone.
Or maybe it’s because in winter, everything is equal because it snows on everything, regardless of anything’s status.
But one thing’s for sure, it helps us start over.

It’s time for them as they fall from the glittering sky
As they delicately drift down proudly dancing in mid air
Sticking my tongue out hoping to catch one
Shinier than gleaming diamonds
And having the lustrous sheen of silver
Being as glossy as can be
As they give off shimmering reflections
From the sun’s wavering light
They glimmer like the silvery moon

It starts in October the season of Death.
Treees change from green to brilliant yellows and oranges.
But this beauty leaves a bittersweet feeling in the pit of my stomach, for what is to come will be a wasteland of white, an inescapable cold that cuts through the layers and stings the surface, cracking the skin and numbing the fingers.

Soon will come the ice, freezing time and space.

It gets cold and my desire to go outside slowly wanes away. I’m frustrated that the warm weather couldn’t have stayed longer and the heavy cloths will burden me again. But soon the snow will fall and my frustrations will dissipate. Suddenly the cold no longer holds me back from the outdoors. The glistening white sparkles call my name.