6447
The Evershifting Seasons
ggt3416
PREFACE:: This story is one I can recite word for word. It is a tale my mother would, on occasion, offer to me on sleepless nights. Here it has been rendered into verse to share with you Aegeans.:: ::The Evershifting Seasons, a poem by Alys.:: ::Maidens four, :: Father Sun with his wife begot,:: Bound by blood and appearance alike,:: Tempers diverse as feather and rock.:: ::Winnitea the elder,:: Bitter and callous,:: Antithesis of the naivette,:: Sprea the vivacious.:: ::Somarea the volatile,:: Her passions rarely contained,:: By none other than Autea the gentle,:: Wisdom accompanied by a fertile mind.:: ::His daughters the solar god adored,:: Dropped between them a contraption,:: Of which none ever bored,:: Entranced by its simple amusement.:: ::A clear barrier of winding contours,:: Flowing grains of yellow trapped,:: One was not enough for the four,:: Snatching desperately from sisters' hands.:: ::Inevitably the toy hit the floor,:: Its fragments littering those sisters' feet,:: The grains flowed no more,:: Heralding sobs of dismal despair.:: ::Oh how the sisters tried,:: Held out the hems of their dress,:: And dropped the grains inside,:: Determined to save their precious plaything.:: ::Thus the sisters ran round and round,:: Collecting the sand as they went along,:: All in vain as it fell to the ground,:: Collecting the sand the last sister held.:: ::As she runs by Aegis lands,:: Each sister a season makes,:: Forever gathering the hourglass sands,:: Her nature affecting Nature Herself.:: ::The seasons' departure and return are among the few certainties of this world, next to the inescapable death of every mortal. With each shift of the seasons, they guide us towards change and flexibility. Although the sisters are forever cursed to gather the numerous grains of sand, dropping them as they go along, some grains do remain and the four's efforts accumulate slowly. Thus, we too, should keep walking, even only to end up in the same place, because every spring, summer, autumn, and winter is never quite the same.