Welcome to the pub, all. Hedgewitch (Joy Ann Jones) here, stirring up a cauldron of mulled cider to welcome in October. Pull up a bar stool or sit on a pile of crisp autumn leaves (I’ll sweep them up later) and enjoy that distinctive smell of apples and cinnamon and the brown earthiness of nutmeg, while we get together tonight to read and share our own harvest of words.
October is my favorite month, though it didn’t used to be. When I lived up north, April seemed better, with its budding leaves and melted snow, and October, grey, cold, and frowning in on summer’s heels, seemed more like a Cassandra foretelling all the dreary miseries of winter to come. Then I moved to the dust bowl, and into a climate of too-often blistering heat and drought, where there’s no such thing here as a weekly renewing summer thunderstorm, and the land parches from May to September. Now when October sticks her head around the corner, I know that the fall rains come with her, giving a profound relief from the searing sun as well as autumn’s promise of rest for the tired burned land in a mild (by Northern standards) winter fallow time.
October is high on my list for other reasons–it has my favorite holiday, Halloween, and also begins the seasonal harvest theme that finishes here in the US with our Thanksgiving. Also, it’s undoubtedly one of the most fruitful months to write about. To list all the poems that treat the season as fodder for every imaginable poetic twist would take up more screens than any of us could wade through, but I would like to mention a few of my own personal favorite autumn poems.
Of course I have to start with one of my favorite authors, and one of the first poems where I ever felt that certain thrill of connection that as readers and writers we all live for, Ulalume by Edgar Allen Poe. Decades later, I can still recite the poem from memory, with its quintessential somber feel of autumn:
The skies they were ashen and sober;
The leaves they were crispéd and sere—
The leaves they were withering and sere;
It was night in the lonesome October
Of my most immemorial year…
Another early favorite is the supremely lyrical Poem in October, by Dylan Thomas, which for copyright reasons I only link and do not quote. I remember the year I first read this I was about fifteen, and confounded my family by asking for a book for Christmas. “That’s all you want?” my mother said incredulously, “A poetry book??” But for Christmas that year I got The Collected Poems of Dylan Thomas, and I still have it, ancient and worn with the title illegible, on my poetry shelf.
I also love the W.S. Merwin poem To the Light of September, and October, by Robert Frost, two very different examples of the inspiration this season carries. Everyone probably has their own favorites as well that they return to each fall to mark the passing of another summer, to draw a deep breath before winter hits.
One final word about October: Here in the US, we are having a presidential election in about a month. October is the deadline in many states for voter registration. I’d like to urge everyone who can to register and to vote, and to participate in the democratic process, whatever your political views.
Alright then, we’ve let our minds stray across October’s rich fields, and now it’s time to bring them back to this night of reading and sharing our own words. Though I’ve written about October as a subject, there is no assigned prompt or topic on the pub’s Open Link Night–it is open for you to link any poem, old or new, on any topic, that you wish to share with us. So let’s sip our cider, or alternate grog of choice, and get down to the night’s harvest.
If you’re new to the pub, here’s how it all works:
- Link in the poem you’d like to share–old or new, on any topic, (1 per blog, please)– by clicking on the Mr.Linky button just below.
- This opens a new screen where you’ll enter your information, and where you also choose links to read. Once you have pasted your poem’s blog url and entered your name, simply click submit.
- Don’t forget to let your readers know where you’re linking up and encourage them to participate by including a link to dVerse in your blog post.
- Visit as many other poems as you like, commenting as you see fit. Remember that this is how we connect with those who can support and encourage us, and for whom we provide the same vital benefits.
- Spread the word. Feel free to tweet and share on the social media of your choice.
- Finally, enjoy! Remember, we are here for each other. Thanks to all of you, and enjoy tonight’s Open Link poetry-thon.
kelly said:
Happy October, and Happy Open Link Night!
claudia said:
october for sure has its own magic…biked the last two days to work cause i just wanted to be as close as possible to her soft breath…smiles..
thanks for tending bar hedge and happy OLN everyone
Joseph Harker said:
I wonder if the month gets so much poetic inspiration because, with the fall of leaves and end of warmth, it reflects on the temporary beauties. Either way, cider and pumpkin-y things are welcome distractions from that bit of melancholy… ^_^
Susan L Daniels said:
Hello all! Happy OLN 😉
hedgewitch said:
Welcome all! It’s another poetry-packed evening at the pub–look forward to a night of memorable reading and sharing. My back has once again decided to give me fits, –fall gardening–so I will be slow on the trail but hope to visit as many of you as I can.
claudia said:
sorry to hear about your back..ugh…take your time to getting around and hopefully it will heal quickly
brian miller said:
hey hedge, how you holding up?
thanks for hosting even in your discomfort…
you the hostess with the mostest…smiles.
hedgewitch said:
Thanks, Claudia and Brian–I’ve done about my quota for tonight and need to get prone, but will be back in the morning.
Brian Carlin said:
October… what it brings in our house over the years has been, in the space of one week, the birthdays of our best friends, my niece, my brother in law, my recently departed step-father, and late father. Possibly as a result of us Scots taking our New Year celebrations TOO seriously/amorously!
hedgewitch said:
Ha! Yes, sometimes the consequences do show up nine months later.
ladynyo said:
Oh, Joy! Your words were toothsome!
October has to be my favorite month for exactly the same reasons you cited….and here in this Humidity Bowl….Atlanta…..October rains and the beginning of the change of colors…well, we are ‘parched’ for this change in the landscape…
I need to read more of Dylan Thomas, and know the poem you cited of Frost’s.
I posted my own small poem to Autumn…..on my blog.
Thank Goodness for this seasonal change!
Lady Nyo
hedgewitch said:
Yes, I’m more than ready for it. Good to see you, Jane.
Madeleine Begun Kane said:
Thanks for the forum, the seasonal poems, and the excellent reminder about registering to vote. 🙂
Here’s my Limerick Dismay.
hedgewitch said:
My pleasure Mad–and look forward to your ever-witty limericks.
Madeleine Begun Kane said:
Thanks again!
Patti said:
Autumn is my favorite season, and October the loveliest month of autumn. Growing up down south, my fantasies always included crisp air and crisper apples, spicy smells and colorful leaves underfoot. I’m delighted to say that here in New England, all of my fantasies (well, most of them…) have come true. Happy Open Link Night, everyone.
hedgewitch said:
We spent a few weeks in Vermont in the fall once–beautiful country and all those things you mention were quite in evidence. Glad you could make it tonight, Patti.
Poet Laundry said:
Great intro hedge and Happy October everyone!
Dark Angel said:
Hi Hedge! Not feeling fall today here. We are having record breaking weather 75! Yeah that actually is record breaking here on the coast :). Gonna go have lunch alfresco, I’ll be back later to read. Happy OLN everyone!
hedgewitch said:
Hi DA–is that record-breaking hot?? Because your hot is our cool, then. ;_) Enjoy the lunch.
marilyncavicchia said:
Hello, everyone … Chainsaws right outside my window and a huge project I’m working on combined to make a short, profanity-laced poem from me today. Maybe I will be feeling the October magic more next week. 🙂
claudia said:
ugh on the chainsaws and best wishes for your project..
marilyncavicchia said:
Thank you so much, Claudia! The project is a book that I’m going to submit a few different places. I don’t usually simultaneously submit poems to multiple places, but for a book, I really want to get it out to a few places, since it was a lot of work!
hollyannegetspoetic said:
Mmmmm…. Mulled cider! Don’t mind if I do! My poem is not autumnal particularly, although it does have a vaguely horticultural (if urban) theme…
claudia said:
it’s a moving piece..
hollyannegetspoetic said:
Thanks Claudia.
Gay Reiser Cannon said:
Having grown up in the TX panhandle which has never known a proper spring – I was grown, married and pregnant before I learned of that particular beauty. October has ALWAYS been my favorite month, we had an autumn in that town of numbered trees and halloween festivals. There were contests among school children to create artwork on the display windows of downtown stores and prizes given – blankets, movie tickets, rodeo tickets. The temperature was perfect until halloween day which seemed to always change right after we started trick or treat from moderate 70s to a cold front that brought cold rain and sometimes sleet before we made much of a trek through the neighborhood. We persevered shivering in our light costumes…candy was the thing!
I’ve been busy this week with realtors. Trying to sell the beach place. Haven’t written anything but will be making rounds to read as much as I can.
hedgewitch said:
Yes, Halloween seems to do that–turn cold right in the middle of trick or treating–up north we had two sizes bigger costumes so we could wear them *over* our coats. Good luck on selling your house, Gay.
Heaven (@asweetlust) said:
Thanks for hosting tonight OLN Hedge ~
Just wanted to give my thanks to the team for always encouraging and supporting our writing. Do you remember Claudia’s poetics promp of Borg de Noel we did a couple of weeks ago? I submitted my poem, Bottled Memory, to another literary journal and today, I received a message that they have accepted it for their Dec. 2012 issue. You guys are my inspiration to improve my writing week after week ~ I am grateful for all that you do ~
Grace
hedgewitch said:
Thank you Grace, and I’m so psyched for you! Many congratulations on getting your poem in print.
claudia said:
that’s great news grace!!
tashtoo said:
Love October…the tastes, the smells, the magic! We’re shaping up for Thanksgiving here…so it’s gonna be all about the turkey and nap time…sorry to be late to the party…got hung up on the phone…dang it all!
Susan said:
Logged in at number 49, and came up at 62. That’s the kind of magic that’s here at the Pub. I think I may fall in love with October again now that I am not a teacher–but I am posting a poem I wrote in the middle of hearing teens brag–not all of them–about what hell they planned to raise while stealing candy from children. Perhaps they were just trying to shock me. It worked. Meanwhile, rereading these older masterpieces and new poems is great! Thank you, Hedgewitch.
ManicDdaily said:
Hi Joy – so sorry to hear of your back. I do like October, but I still cling to the idea that summer will bring respite! (A student at heart, I think, though I certainly don’t seem to be learning too much these days!)
I will not be able to visit too much till later tonight but look forward to it. Loved your offering re summer snows – just beautiful. k.
claudia said:
your piece made my heart stop k. – wonderful write about a serious topic
hedgewitch said:
Thanks, k. Glad you liked, and your poem was seriously good–to be born female is to be born vulnerable, too often..
ManicDdaily said:
I think it is difficult for us to realize how lucky we are (in the West) to be born in the places and times we have been. Of course, there’s pretty awful stuff that goes on here too! And, honestly, one is struck by how many of the places with the worst problems have been ravaged by war, and some of the worst abuses of women seem to be, to some degree, a remnant of war conditions. With the rape and sex trafficking particularly. Agh. k.
jenneandrews said:
Thank you, Joy, and everyone at DVerse for such a great meme. xxj
claudia said:
good to see you jenne
Myrna said:
I know what you mean about loving October. I used to dread it, but now I live in the Southwest, where autumn is so much more like Spring.
Have a great October. Thanks for hosting.
Emily said:
I feel like September just got here! And there it goes. I love the fall. And October with its gathering darkness. And even more broody November.
Thanks for the links, too. Been far too long since I read any WS Merwin. Must go dig that back out of the dusty bookshelf. (Achoo.)
Be in and out over the next coupla days. Traveling. Meh.
Happy Poem-ing, everyone!
claudia said:
safe travels emily
1emeraldcity said:
Can’t get into link! grrrrr I hear a belching sound…No trouble with browser otherwise. WTF?
claudia said:
i tagged you in jackie…
brian miller said:
nice opening hedge….autumn is my fav par tof year surely…and poe a fav as well….just rolling in from work….thanks to those that dropped love at my place already…will be around soon…smiles.
PJF Sayers said:
Hi everyone and happy open link. Sorry about your back, Joy Ann. I have written about a compilation of woman I have known living here South of the Border. I have even mentioned pumpkin flower soup, which is a favourite in these parts.
Pamela
claudia said:
hmmm..pumpkin flower soup sounds great…enjoyed the poem
claudia said:
bedtime for me….tomorrow’s a public holiday in germany (day of german unity) but as i work in switzerland…sigh…will make an early morning round in the pub before i leave for work tomorrow morning..
brian miller said:
rest well friend…
Laura Hegfield said:
love this time of year too… but really I cannot choose a favorite season…the are all beautiful and fill me with awe each in a different way. thanks for hosting:-)
tashtoo said:
Can’t access RD’s site because of privacy settings…just a heads up if you’re trolling the comments…I did request permission 🙂
hedgewitch said:
I had the same problem, Tash–sorry RD.
brian miller said:
it is open now…
flipside records said:
October is also my favorite month. Thank you for hosting, Joy Ann. I enjoyed your post.
charlesmashburn said:
Wow! Am I late, or WHAT?? Time gets away from me on these beautiful fall days! Here in my neck of the woods, a beautiful fall day = 80 degrees, bright sunshine and being loved like I never thought was possible! It’s all good!
brian miller said:
dude your wife has to be beaming right now…smiles….
charlesmashburn said:
She’s always beaming, dude! She’s my moon, sun and stars!
brian miller said:
ha…you rock sir…
kaykuala said:
Hi Joy! Thanks for hosting! Grand opening for Oct and Happy OLN everyone. It has been equatorial rain most days in our part of the world!
Hank
hedgewitch said:
Okay folks–it’s time for my back pill and a laydown, but I will be back around tomorrow — there’s some wonderful stuff out there.
brian miller said:
hope your back feels better hedge…
Bodhirose said:
Thanks for a wonderful hostessing job, Hedgewitch…enjoyed Dylan Thomas’ poem..had never read that one…hit me with a pang of grief while reading it….
A rainy, but hot, autumn day here…I so look forward to just a hint of coolness to begin…
K♥Maeby♥B (@karenmaeby) said:
Happy October! Best month ever.
ihatepoetry said:
Loved your welcome – right on, register and vote, Americans!
Rachel said:
I can hardly hear over all this leaf crackling! I hope it doesn’t take you too long to clean up our “chairs”. 😛
Ravenblack said:
Autumn would be my favorite season if there actually is an autumn in the tropics. Happy October, everyone. 🙂
I’ll place myself in the far back of the queue. Might not be able to visit very many this week.
Shawn said:
After a couple of months in hiatus. I finally made it back. First poem in a series of 4…or 3 or maybe more. We shall see where it takes me. I decided to wood burn this series.
It is good to breathe poetry again.
brian miller said:
dude it is great to see yoU!!!! breathe some more…smiles
taking a break for a bit poets, be back later tonight…
Victoria C. Slotto said:
I’m with you–October and April/May are my favorite seasons, too. Here the leaves are just beginning to change but it’s in the 90’s…although tomorrow it’s supposed to go down to the 70’s. Thanks for a great intro, Joy Ann, and for the poems you led us to.
hedgewitch said:
Yes, we’ve had some 90’s days too this week, but still, after a triple digit summer, not so bad–a cold front this weekend is supposed to get us down in the fifties! Seems impossible, but I’m sure it isn’t. ;_) Glad you enjoyed the linked poems.
coalblack said:
Lafayette, I am here! I couldn’t let you down, dear Hedgey.
hedgewitch said:
Your presence always makes the occasion special, my dear friend.
dawndeluca said:
It has been awhile for me as well, but I thought I would tag along with a friend to Open Link night. 🙂
Serena said:
OMG… was having computer problems right after I linked up and I swear I was ready to go into poetry withdrawal… luckily the problem has cleared and I’m onto a nice casual poetry stroll… in the pub. I love this site!
brian miller said:
haha…welcome back…ugh on the computer problems….hate those…
enthusiasticallydawn said:
Hoping to drink in some wicked brew here with all of you. I so need a diversion! Pour it on…thanks for serving it up so well. I hate when I miss. 😉
beckykilsby said:
Hiya hedge… October is definitely not such a big deal in Dubai… sweltering segues into pretty damn hot .. 🙂 Enjoy the colours! Mine’s another trip round the world.. sad story of what governments in their ‘wisdom’ can do..
nephiriel said:
this came out a bit quirky…
looking forward to reading now… thanks for the prompt!
claudia said:
good morning…*yawns & rubs her eyes*…will get a coffee and out on the trail in a bit..smiles
dani said:
thanks for the links to the autumn poems, Joy! i will read them after visiting others who’ve linked in. Happy October!
♥
hedgewitch said:
hi dani, glad you could make it.
hobgoblin2011 said:
Thanks for Hosting Hedge. As for me, fashionably late as per usual. lol Just love hopping on and seeing 130+ poems staring back at me, time to dig in
hedgewitch said:
hey Fred–the party always revs up when you get here.
geraldine snape said:
it’s so good to be back…the summer has been a thinking time!!
brian miller said:
hey there…will try to fix your link but it is not working for some reason….
geraldine snape said:
not sure why that is I’ve had a look at .com but I’m sure that I’m .co.uk!!!!!
hypercryptical said:
Thanks for hosting Joy – I find it rather sad when lush green foliage begins to fade and nature turns to sleeep…
Anna :o]
David Eric Cummins said:
Wow, a lot of poems linked this time! Of course, I don’t drop by often so maybe 145 isn’t such a large number for Open Link Night. Guess I need to stop in more often. 🙂
johnallenrichter said:
Joy….. October has always been my favorite month too…. The harsh heat of the summer gone and cool breezes soothe the skin…. The trees are so colorful and what wonderful memories of raking the leaves and playing in them as children, or watching our own children do the same…. And it’s more than just a time of year to me, it’s a completely romantic, whisk me away and off my feet sort of time… I think it’s because my first kiss, and I mean my first real kiss, a kiss so passionate that time stopped and my mind was transported somewhere else and I remember wishing this would never stop…. But it did and soon found myself returning to that october cobblestoned street in Goeppingen, Germany, looking into the eyes of the first woman who ever truly changed my view of love. October is the greatest month in my mind…. And thanks for the Thomas link. What a beautiful poem. He is very adept at describing the serene.
“And I saw in the turning so clearly a child’s
Forgotten mornings when he walked with his mother
Through the parables
Of sun light
And the legends of the green chapels ”
I had forgotten him. I had read some of his work when I was in High School. And Frost is always the consumate standard, he and his contemporaries being my own muse. It’s amazing that I can see Thomas’ style and emotion in your writing, though until just now I hadn’t put my finger on it exactly.
Thank you Joy….
hedgewitch said:
Thank *you* John for this paean in praise of October–and Thomas is one of those poets I think that you can’t read without absorbing some of his full throttle style, though I think many influences are in all our writing–I d thank you for that compliment, though. Thanks for sharing your memories with us.
hedgewitch said:
So great to see so many old and new faces–thanks to each and every one of you for coming by to link with us. I’m off to see what the night and morning has turned up.
vbholmes said:
Missed the deadline for Six Billion Others so posted my poem today. Enjoy readng all the different voices. Thanks.
myrthryn said:
Hopefully not too late to stick my foot in the door….::
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