The War

The War

After the snowfall,
All is quiet.
The only sound is
Snow crunching under my feet
The wintry white land strikes
Awe and wonder into my sight
And I enjoy the solitude.

Until splat!
I discover I am not alone
A powdery ball of snow has
Struck my cheek
I quickly turn to learn
Who the culprit of such a cruel
Act of terrorism happens to be.

Seeing him, swiftly, I bend down
Grabbing at the soft, white floor.
I pick up a handful, mold it
And catapult the ball through the air

Ha! Ha!
A perfect, direct hit!
I slyly smile
A smile is returned
The war has begun

Laughter shatters the silence
Arms hurl snow furiously
The two of us
Advancing upon one another

Until crash!
I am forced down
Into the snow
And, as I fall,
I take him with me

White-washing commences
And the laughter continues
Until, exhausted we run out of breath
The war is over
But the laughter remains.

(January 13, 1998)

My professor suggested I remove that last stanza.  She wrote, "Nice!  Consider what would happen if you ended here - that line 'I take him with me' is very nuanced, but it gets pushed aside by the last stanza."  I like what it does to end it there, but I also think perhaps it denotes something a little too romantic in nature going on and that was not the intent of this poem.  I do write a lot of romantic poetry.  I just love romance, but this time I wanted to keep the innocence.  Boys and girls can be just friends.  It's really sexist to think otherwise, actually.  What do you think?