Deaths of Flowers

This poem reminds me of autumn...the death of all things flowering and green. The bleak promise that spring will come again soon. It's hard to believe, when everything is frost and barrenness, that spring will come again, but it will. It always does :)

Thanks to Alan for sharing this poem. Beautiful!

Deaths of Flowers
BY Edith Joy Scovell.

I would if I could choose
Age and die outwards as a tulip does;
Not as this iris drawing in, in-coiling
Its complex strange taut inflorescence, willing
Itself a bud again - though all achieved is
No more than a clenched sadness,

The tears of gum not flowing.
I would choose the tulips reckless way of going;
Whose petals answer light, altering by fractions
From closed to wide, from one through many perfections,
Til wreched, flamboyant, strayed beyond recall,
Like flakes of fire they piecemeal fall.

Dear November, Besides Thanksgiving, You Suck!

So, I'm not a fan of cold weather. Yes, I love to trot around in my cute boots and sweaters, but it's not worth freezing my fingers off...especially on days like today, when the cold pairs with icky rain, for a wet and messy afternoon.

They say it might snow this weekend. Bleh. Bleh. BLEH! I want to just cuddle up under blanket with a good book and a cup of hot chocolate. But, alas, I have over-booked myself once again. Tonight I have errands, band practice, writing, and blah blah blah. Ah November...

Check out an excerpt from Linda Pastan's poem The Months and let the Turkey-Day countdown begin!



November
by Linda Pastan

These anonymous
leaves, their wet
bodies pressed
against the window

or falling past—
I count them
in my sleep,
absolving gravity,

absolving even death
who knows as I do
the imperatives
of the season.

Welcome, October. It's been a long time, my friend

Fall always comes too abruptly. One day, my shoulders are soaking up the sun and I'm complaining about the oppressive heat of the afternoons...and the next, I'm bundled up in coat and scarf and boots.

I can scarcely recall how to dress for this weather. I was so engrossed in summer that I forgot how to "do" fall. But, alas, I must learn again. I'm sure that, as I do year after countless year, I will relish the brisk wind and crunching leaves soon enough, but today...brrrr!

Welcome, October. It's been a long time, my friend :)

The Months: October
BY Linda Pastan

How suddenly
the woods
have turned
again. I feel

like Daphne, standing
with my arms
outstretched
to the season,

overtaken
by color, crowned
with the hammered gold
of leaves.

If You Can't Beat 'em, Prose 'em

Cincinnati is the absolute worst place for people with allergies. The city is situated in a deep valley, surrounded by hills on one side and the muddy Ohio River on the other side. The springs are rainy and full of pollen. Mix it all together and the city turns into a deep stew of sinus oppression. It's torture. Torture I tell you!! But, instead of crying all spring long, I've decided to celebrate the unavoidable:-)

Thanks to our 15th Poet Laureate Charles Simic for adding a bit of peotic flare to my view of these antagonists of allergy season...Enjoy an ode to Dandilions!


Dandelions
BY Charles Simic

We were fabulously lucky.
We became dandelions.
Before we were even born
We kept wishing to be dandelions.
Next we found ourselves traveling
Out of the great unknown.
We rode down in a train
Sixteen coaches long,
We sat prim and proper In our golden yellow dresses.
Others came as black widows,
Little monkeys, and red birds,
And of course many ants,
Snuggled together and looking glum.

God Doesn't Give us Dreams to Taunt Us

Ah spring! For some reason, the warm weather, longer days, and budding flowers of spring make me feel oh so hopeful. I'm not sure how a simple change in temperature can give me the energy to follow my dreams with renewed fervor, but it does. This poem by my friend and ex-roomie Danielle captures those sentiments perfectly! Lots of great lines in there.

Now get off your butt and turn your dreams into action!!

enjoy

Spring
BY Danielle Cooper

I hoped
I chased
I longed
Like there was nothing else
Like there was no one else

Maybe there isn't
Time changes everything

But I will create new hopes
I will run towards new dreams
And won't look back

Well, maybe once
And dare to believe
Some dreams I never have to let go

Brrrrrr...It's Cold in Here!

It is cold. I don't like it. I'm already wearing long johns and a hoodie to bed, so I'm pretty sure that I won't survive the winter. In honor of that horrid season that is quickly approaching...a bit of Shakespeare.

enjoy:-)

Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind (As You Like It)
BY William Shakespeare

Blow, blow, thou winter wind.
Thou art not so unkind
As man’s ingratitude;
Thy tooth is not so keen,
Because thou art not seen,
Although thy breath be rude.
Heigh-ho! sing, heigh-ho! unto the green holly:
Most friendship is feigning, most loving mere folly:
Then, heigh-ho, the holly!
This life is most jolly.
Freeze, freeze, thou bitter sky,
That dost not bite so nigh
As benefits forgot:
Though thou the waters warp,
Thy sting is not so sharp
As friend remember’d not.
Heigh-ho! sing!