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Hello dVerse poets! Dora here from Dreams from a Pilgrimage dipping my toe back in the poetics pool ever so gingerly as the dog days of August and September here in Washington, D. C., give way to the cooler weather of October.

Fidelity (Shin), depicted as Murasaki Shikibu, from Five Cardinal Virtues, by Suzuki Harunobu, ca. 1767

But it’s not just the weather but the quality of October itself, its light, its promise, its magic, that I’d like our poetic muses to reflect on, as the title of this prompt suggests with its play on the idiom “tripping the light fantastic.” The idiom itself means to dance nimbly and gracefully, or in an imaginative or fantastic manner. The phrase’s origins go back to Milton’s poetical address to Euphrosyne (one of the three Graces in Greek mythology) in his 1632 poem “L’Allegro”: “Come, and trip it as ye go/On the light fantastick toe.”

At the still point of the turning world. Neither flesh nor fleshless;
Neither from nor towards; at the still point, there the dance is,
But neither arrest nor movement. And do not call it fixity,
Where past and future are gathered. Neither movement from nor towards,
Neither ascent nor decline. Except for the point, the still point,
There would be no dance, and there is only the dance.

from T. S. Eliot, Four Quartets, “Burnt Norton”; (listen to Eliot’s reading here)

Perhaps it’s October’s light alone that makes the month stand out, the sun’s slant so distinct from other months, its light falling with the multi-colored leaves and flowers in a last burst of gaiety before the truncated days of November and December.

Sylvia Plath, “Poppies in October”

Of course, nothing speaks October to me like light bouncing off a round orange pumpkin ripening under the sun, inviting sweet memories as well as promising sweet pies as the season turns from lush green to golden harvest. Surely the light of October is a little different, a little magical, a little fey and folk-lorish, Jack-o-lantern-lit at midnight, grinning and mischievous. Perhaps a little solemn.

© 𝑀𝑜𝑜𝑛𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑒 by Saskia Boelsums
R. S. Thomas, “The Other” (Destinations, 1985)

What I’d like you to do for this week’s poetics is simply write a poem about what October means to you.

Here are a few ideas to get you started:

Mykola Pymonenko, “Pumpkins” (1890)

1. Serve up a pumpkin as the main dish (literally or metaphorically) or as a side. An example of this is American poet John Greenleaf Whittier’s “The Pumpkin” (1844), the third stanza of which reads:

from “Pumpkin” by John Greenleaf Whittier

Did this silly rhyme from childhood come to mind all too naturally, wonderfully, slyly? Make up one of your own about pumpkins.

Peter, Peter pumpkin eater,
Had a wife but couldn’t keep her;
He put her in a pumpkin shell
And there he kept her very well.

Peter, Peter pumpkin eater,
Had another and didn’t leave her;
Peter learned to read and spell,
And then he loved her very well.

(The macabre origin of this rhyme is “Eeper Weeper.”)

Someday, you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.

C. S. Lewis

2. Adopt a persona and write in the first person voice of a regional folklore character (e.g., Baba Yaga, Tam Lin, or Ichabod Crane) or fairy tale character (Rumplestilskin or Cinderella).

In “The Stolen Child,” Yeats speaks in the character of a “faery” luring children to “faeryland.” Here are the first two stanzas of his four-stanza poem:

W. B. Yeats, “The Stolen Child” (1889)

3. Help us see, smell, hear and feel October in your poetic lines, grilled over the fire of memory and imagination.

(1915)
Yamakawa Shuho, “Abeno” (1928)

Here are two stanzas from “Poem in October” by Dylan Thomas:


Ruth Miller, artist who creates hand-embroidered portraits from her studio on the Mississippi Gulf Coast


So tell us in your own verse. What does October mean to you?

New to dVerse? Here’s how to join in:
* Write a poem in response to the challenge.
* Post your poem on your blog and link back to this post.
* Enter your name and the link to your post by clicking Mr. Linky below (remember to check the little box to accept the use/privacy policy).
* Read, enjoy, and comment on your fellow poets’ work –- there’s so much to derive from reading each other’s writing: new inspiration, new ideas, new friends.
* Mr. Linky will remain open until 3pm EST on Thursday, October 9th. Miss the deadline? No worries. Save your poem up for Open Link Night and share it there!