What Queen Frostine Taught Me
by Michael Doyle

Queen Frostine taught me to cherish victory
Sweetly satisfying and stacked in her mystery
At four years old, I began to learn to take my turn 
Life was full of all these sorts of things to learn

I found that those things learned with a laugh
Stuck with me more than  worrisome patterns of math
Yet still, I learned to count with color recognition
And I found that kids' games developed my cognition

All of this became discerned to my gratitude
While creative enjoyment taught me the attitude
That would come to serve me well through my days
I found that life's games are worth a million plays

Win or lose, I learned to play my turns honestly
Finding otherwise, no one would continue to play with me
Losing time and time again until winning, I came to define
All those things I came to claim as me and mine

Among these things was the honor of my integrity 
This came hard learned, I will say with sincerity
It was in growing older that I learned to face rejection
With only a few moonshot roles building needed connections

In all the hopes that would have been, that could have been
I learned from Candyland to become gracious, lose or win
Knowing full well that whether encountering ladders or slides
I learned I'd be alright, and always come out the other side

You see, the trick is to keep going, facing ever forward
Moving with persistence, ever onward and constantly toward
With our eyes set on whatever the goals chosen might mean
And still, we remain hopeful until happening on Queen Frostine

(c) February 1, 2024   Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved