Writers' Pantry #42: Autumnal

Hello from DownUnder, dear wordsmiths.

Of course some of you are in the Southern Hemisphere too: most, though not all, here with me in Oz – as we like to call our Australia (no connection to L. Frank Baum or Judy Garland). Right now we are moving through Spring, wondering uneasily whether we’ll get fire or flood this Summer, or both. 

But most of you are on the Northern side of the planet, moving out of Summer into Autumn. 

I liked Sarah McNulty’s recent colourful take on it in her ‘Purple in Portland’ blog.

Making The Switch

Reluctantly releasing myself
from warmth of Summer's
embrace.  Green, pink,
and yellow all had their
place.  Time has come
to enmesh myself in russets,
and amber, swaying on
Autumn's trees.

and her not unrelated Halloween piece

Lurkers in Woods

Amidst gold, orange and brick red leaves,
cinnamon scent, and apple cider,
costumes are being readied
for anxious children 
impatiently waiting for Halloween.

On crisp, cold evening in twilight
beware of monsters who lurk behind
leafy trees–Ghouliani, Pursed Lips
Mitch, and The Don of Con.  Cover
your ears so you cannot hear

their gibberish talk.  They will
steal your candy for their bloated
bellies.  Be on the lookout
for liars and thieves.  They have
two-sided mouths, and bleed from each. 

Only a few of you saw these charming poems, as they came late-ish in the postings for those prompts – within the time frame, but towards the end of it. I did catch these the first time around, and remembered the pleasure they gave me, but it would have been easy enough to miss them.

I try to read every response to every prompt, but I can still miss some and would never  know unless I had another look later. So I like to go back and check the ‘tail-enders’ sometimes when I have a few minutes to spare, or if I need a quick break from everyday concerns. I often find treasures!

Of course, if you notice that something of yours hasn’t been seen by very many eyes, you could always follow Rommy’s example and re-post it to the next Pantry.

We can post (almost) anything in the Pantry – old or new, verse or prose, with these provisos:  just one entry per person, please, and prose pieces to be within 369 words (apart from title). 

I look forward to reading you!

 

Advance notice: on Wednesday Magaly will be asking us to write while inspired by one of Magical Mystical Teacher’s poems: “fingers framed by light / clutching an old rosary / carved of human bone”. If you’re feeling extra creative, let your poetry or prose answer one (or both) of these questions: 1) Where did the bones come from? 2)Why is the subject clutching a rosary made of human bone?

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Post Script: More Good Reading

Are any of you involved in the #PeetMeNotLeave or #PoetMeNotLeave challenge on facebook? It's to post 8 poems in 8 days and invite 8 other poets to take part. Supposedly (but I think doubtfully) it can also render one eligible for inclusion in a Russian anthology. If you're on fb – whether or not you might like to take part – do click on the hashtags (at least one of them) because there's some truly wonderful poetry to read! You'll probably want to return a few times.

Material shared here is presented for study and review. Poems, photos, and other writings and images remain the property of the copyright owners, usually the authors. The autumn photo is from Unsplash, by Pascal Debrunner.