+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| the first month ESTAR middle winter |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Estar is named for Estarra, the Eternal, the Goddess in whom dwell |
| the powers of creation and destruction, the origins of existence. |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

Estar it was when first I met her,
a chance meeting as if she came from another world.
Beneath silent snowflakes the land itself held its breath,
waiting for possibilities unborn.
Our encounter was as brief as day,
as crisp as a frozen stream.
When she left, the air behind her remained charged
with the potential of creation as yet unrealized.

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| the second month URLACHMAR late winter |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Urlachmar is named for Urlach, Master of Death, one of the Final |
| Nine who embraced death and undeath to fight the Soulless. |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

Urlachmar was a deep ache in the bones,
an all-pervasive cold.
Long nights clamped around me like a grave,
unyielding, remembering.
In silence I considered the spark that was missing within me,
and wondered if I needed it.
The hope of seeing her again slept
like a seed beneath snow.

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| the third month KIANI early spring |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Kiani bears the name of Kiakoda, Guardian of the Green, a furrikin |
| of humble origins with great power amongst growing things. |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

Kiani sat folded in her gentle hands
and thus crept up on me unnoticed.
Warmth awakened in me feelings I had forgotten,
as they had slumbered, forgetting even themselves.
They tumbled one over another as mountain streams,
eager to find their place again.
The air was full of the raucous, joyous sounds
of the world awakening.

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| the fourth month DIONI middle spring |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Dioni is named in honour of Dionamus, the Healer, whose dedication |
| to mercy and the easing of pain led her to become the Seal of Life.|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

Dioni saw my voice peek out from under the snow of loss
as a sprout green against white.
Fragile as the meekest sapling,
it reached for her in song.
The sun smiled through her eyes,
and flowers bloomed in their light.
We gave each other forgotten life
now remembered in the other's warmth.

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| the fifth month VESTIAN late spring |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Vestera the Dreamweaver gives us the name of the month Vestian, in |
| which the sands of slumber bring beauty into the dreams of all. |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

Vestian was hazy and inchoate,
like a warm dream under the stars.
As wind and water are together were we together
every day and night.
In our hearts burned a fire\\
which consumed nothing save the dry kindle of cogitation.
Our heads were filled with heady, spicy smoke
redolent of the dream of one another.

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| the sixth month AVECHARY early summer |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Avechary is named for Avechna, the Avenger, formed of the strength |
| and unity of the Final Nine, stalward and steadfast in his vigil. |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

Avechary we came to know one another,
as if we'd shared a whole life.
In mutual understanding
we found the strength of security.
Our promises were as sure as desert stone,
as timeless as truth.
We were one, as if we had always been one,
would always be one.

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| the seventh month DVARSH middle summer |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| The merian Gorob became D'varsha, the First, whose knowledge made |
| him the first of the vernal gods. From his name comes Dvarsh. |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

Dvarsh was sweet and warm,
with the nectar of love in each tender kiss.
We spent the long days learning every page of the book
of the other's mind and soul,
But as we studied each other's bodies by too-brief night,
another secret was first glimpsed.
In every blossom is a seed
that is born to die one day.

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| the eighth month TZARIN late summer |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Tzarin bears the name of Tzaraziko the Enigmatic, whose mystery is |
| pondered in the form of the Seal of Chaos, ever elusive. |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

Tzarin was the dancing of clouds in the wind,
frantic as thunderstorms.
We clung to the heat of what was,
even as we felt it start to slip away.
As every shining moment escaped our grasp
we gripped more tightly to the next.
Frenetic and intense in desperate passion
to feel every moment and deny the winter.

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| the ninth month KLANGIARY early autumn |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Klangratch, the Axe of War, gives us the name of Klangiary, a grim |
| time of slaughter, in the farm's harvest, or in the fields of war. |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

Klangiary brought the first chills,
frost as sudden as a falling axe.
We gathered courage as if we were packing rations
for a brutal march into enemy territory.
We gazed at one another as if we might fight off what must come
through sheer force of will in our eyes.
But in the hidden secret places within,
I readied myself for how war must ever end.

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| the tenth month JULIARY middle autumn |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Juliary bears the name of Juliana the Even-Handed, strict in the |
| pursuit of fairness and justice, finding concord amongst discord. |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

Juliary was filled every day
with bustling movement and incessant chatter.
Each last remnant of love was tied in a neat parcel
and stored away for long, cold nights to come.
Hours we talked of reasons and causes, thoughts and feelings,
proof and possibilities, hows and whys.
Each word peeled away pain and left the obdurate ice of fate exposed,
raw, strong, and unforgiving.

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| the eleventh month SHANTHIN late autumn |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Shanthin is named for Shanth of the Quiet Mind, the swift, silent |
| Vernal known for solitary strength and harmonious contemplation. |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

Shanthin crept silently upon me with unheard footsteps,
like peace after a storm.
Fat snowflakes covered unyielding ice
and muffled sound, pain, loss.
Gratitude for what I had, for a time, had,
enfolded me like a blanket of snow.
In quiet contemplation of the inevitability of time's turning
I found harmony.

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| the twelth month ROARKIAN early winter |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Roarkian stands at the rift between years, unknown and alone, much |
| as Roark Libertas stood silent before the rift between worlds. |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

Roarkian was a time of solitude:
I saw no one, and thus I saw not her.
There were even a few days when I did not think of her, ache for her.
Only a few.
But I was not alone:
I was with myself, and I learned my own company again.
And for a month, as I came to know myself once more,
I was sufficient.