"Dear Winter"

Dear Winter,

I marvel you

So demanding and true

Release your sharp breeze

Wondrous, December freeze

White and slow

So peaceful, I know

Drifting and floating

Dancing and coating

The world in bliss

With a silver kiss

Such joy it brings

And laughter sings

White smiles to fit

Twirling, squealing kit

Hot breath meets cold air

A frost you can't bear

So pristine, so free

How I long to be

Cold and light

No desire to fight

Dear Winter,

You leave me to a

Billowing, white tundra

Whipping, blizzard of snow

As I stagger, frozen and low

Chilled and so lost

I suffer the cost

Of how I have failed

In the harsh mountains I scaled

Here I lay, close to tearful

So frozen and so fearful

Yet, not of this red stream

Just my comrade's strangled scream

Dear Winter,

I am dying

Shivering and crying

For the one's that fell

And will never tell

Of how they fought

And what we sought

I was not strong

Just terribly wrong

Now everything they cherished

Is gone as they all perished

Dear Winter,

I am selfish

Always, until the finish

Save me, I beg you

So I may stand and defend you

In the collected flakes of your white kingdom

Gruesomely stained with my own red crimson

Dear Winter,

You must hate me

For how I did flee

Needle sharp wind pierces my skin

And I know I will not win

I will die

I will meet the sky

I'm sorry, I whisper as everything goes numb

Forgive me, I plead as I wait for some

Blackness to creep

Over and seep

Into my soul

That you long ago stole

You captured my heart

From the very start

From days of innocence

And soft, pale resonance

The snow is beautiful

Majestic, wild, and wonderful

I will always appreciate the grace

The feel of cold feathers on my face

Dear Winter,

You've killed me

Frozen and defeated me

Whipping by like a frosty tide

That still I will follow, from the other side

A/N: So this is my first attempt at poetry in quite some time. The idea came to me while I was playing Crisis Core and there were ten feet of snow trapping me in my house. Here are some ways you can interpret it:

1. "Winter" could be Sephiroth. Genesis must lead an army against him after he goes rogue. Even though Genesis admires him and still thinks of him as his friend, he is forced to take him out. Sephiroth has no mercy for Genesis however and slays the men sent against him. He wounds Genesis and leaves him to die in the snow. The last line could be that Genesis will haunt Sephiroth from the lifestream for the rest of his life.

2. It could be just what it sounds like. Genesis leads men into some random battle but, they are defeated. He limps off somewhere in a blizzard and can't survive after the wounds he sustains. The poem is his thoughts of nature and his appreciation for its beauty even as it slowly kills him.

It was just supposed to be that second one but, for some reason, I just kept picturing Sephiroth in that last verse, standing over Genesis. I really don't know how my mind works to come up with that. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it. Any advice and criticism you can give me would be very, very useful. I know it wasn't perfect but, I gave it my best shot and I really wanted to get it out here. Please review. Thanks!