Back in 2012, I created the Inspiration Circle where I would post a theme every month for everyone to create a piece of art (whether it was a poem, a short story, a painting or a photograph).  For one of the months, the theme was “friendship.”  The first draft of my poem was pretty bland because it lacked imagery, depth and emotion.  I was “telling” instead of “showing.”  So I threw that away and started fresh, focusing on imagery.  I decided to focus on the image of a pretty mountain in China and just for the sake of it, I used the Sestina structure.  I typically write in free verse because I don’t like restrictions; however, of all the poetic structures, sestinas are my favorite.  With sestinas, you are not restricted with syllables, rhythm or line length, but with end words.  With that, you often find yourself surprised with what you come up with.  If you never heard of a sestina, you can read about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sestina.  I hope you enjoy this piece.

A Journey up the Mystical Mountain

Hidden in the fog, but showered with cherry blossoms,
we continued on our journey up the mountain.
The floral sent drifted in our nostrils while the wind brushed against our cheeks.
We’ve only been hiking for a few hours, but it seemed like eternity,
walking through the winding paths together –
a wonderful journey to be discovered.

Not knowing what to expect, I looked at you and discovered
how you have changed over the years, how you have blossomed
into a stronger person from the last time we were together.
The experiences from the past have given you strength to climb this mountain,
knowing that what you uncover will inspire you through eternity.
Catching you return my gaze, I became embarrassed and turned the other cheek.

With the sharp wind brushing against my face, I envisioned how rosy my cheeks
must be.  Hiking step by step, I have discovered
that I would love to live in this serene beauty for eternity –
high elevation, fresh air, sounds of trickling water, and pink cherry blossoms –
far away from the stress and demands of society, secluded in this mountain
with someone I trust, know and love – together

with you.  We’ve had our differences, but we remained together.
I remembered the last time we took photos cheek-to-cheek,
we were hiking up the crazy Santa Cruz mountains
and in the midst of it, we found a gem, we discovered
the most elegant waterfall next to a yellow rose about to blossom –
it was a symbol of our friendship, something we’ll remember for eternity.

“Best friends forever,” it seems like we said those words an eternity
ago, when we were six years old playing in the sandbox together.
We had no idea how our lives would change or how our friendship would blossom.
I recall getting ready for dances – putting on lipstick and powdering our cheeks,
and gushing about love, while mending broken hearts.  We had discovered
that life was full of winding paths and little hills, just like this mountain.

Step by step, hill by hill, we are finally reaching the top of this mountain.
Th sun is about to set, this will be the climb we talk about for eternity,
as sunlit rays shine upon us with mystical colors, we discovered
that we forgave each other for all the past tension.  We were happy together.
Love and trust need to be challenged.  Though we may not see cheek-to-cheek
on many things, we continue to water our friendship so that it can blossom.

High above the world, on this mystical mountain, we stand together
to capture a moment for eternity.  You gently brush a tear off my cheek
only to discover that you were crying too, under the beautiful cherry blossoms.

Writing Challenge: Now It’s Your Turn

• Write a poem about friendship, tag it as “Writing Challenge: Friendship” and link it as a comment here
• Or write a senstina, tag it as “Writing Challenge: Sestina” and link it as a comment here