Katya at Write. Sketch. Repeat. hosts today's Round-Up of Poetry Friday links. Thanks for hosting, Katya!
For nearly everyone, it's been a glorious autumn. I'm taking liberty with a favorite poem by Karla Kuskin, Thoughts That Were Put Into Words, because some of the words fit so well. In the first stanza, she wrote:
Thoughts that were put into words
Have been said.
The Words were then spoken
And written
And Read.
Take a look and go on
We are practically done.
. You can find this favorite 'goodbye' poem in Kuskin's Collected Works, Moon, Have You Met My Mother. Here is my version of the events of this fall, thanks to Karla Kuskin.
Autumn That Was Put Into Words (And Pictures)
Poems and pictures and words
have been shared
on Facebook and Instagram
not one sight
was spared.
One more look, time to stop;
There is snow on the ground.
The two trees are favorites that I see nearly every day, easy to love that left ash tree, but weeping willows don't always show off their beauty as this one did. I stopped, parked and took the picture. That's how it's been all the autumn days, more beauty. And now it's November, we had the first snow Thursday morning.
So, one more poem to share, this time of days coming. You may have seen it if you receive the poems from The Writer's Almanac, but if you did, I hope you enjoy the beautiful words all over again.
On The Shortest Days
by Joyce Sutphen
At almost four in the afternoon, the
wind picks up and sifts through the golden woods.
wind picks up and sifts through the golden woods.
The tree trunks bronze and redden, branches
on fire in the heavy sky that flickers
on fire in the heavy sky that flickers
with the disappearing sun. I wonder
what I owe the fading day, why I keep
what I owe the fading day, why I keep
my place at this dark desk by the window
measuring the force of the wind, gauging
measuring the force of the wind, gauging
You can find the rest here.
We've moved from stunning to stunned. The trees are nearly bare. Nooooo! Nice to compare the autumn poems you shared, Linda.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Diane. It has been hard to stop my constant admiration, & now many of our trees are bare too, but not all!
DeleteThose golden woods! My daughter and I were walking at 3 in the afternoon this week -- the light had that golden, light afternoon quality that only comes this time of year. Beautiful poem.
ReplyDeleteWonderful to hear about your walk, Laura. The beauty that surrounds is hard to ignore this year. Thanks.
DeleteHow beautiful--the trees, the light, and the poems!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jane, maybe the final thank you to autumn!
DeleteI love that you stop to take pictures of trees. LOVE. So beautiful, and the poems, too! I always think of you when I read Karla Kuskin. xo
ReplyDeleteYes, Karla Kuskin is my favorite poet to use for students, and for my own inspiration. And I've stopped often to take pictures this fall. Amazing sights! Thanks, Irene.
DeleteThanks for these lovely poems and your photos are gorgeous! I don't think I've ever seen a willow look like that. I need to read more of Joyce Sutphen's work!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome, Jama, so happy you liked Sutphen's poem. She writes beauty in her words I think.
DeleteI am so moved by that last poem. It perfectly captures those beautiful moments between day and night and how we cling to light. Thank you for sharing these poems and the gorgeous photographs.
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome, Sheri. It is wonderful, I agree. I'm glad I shared!
DeleteGorgeous poems and gorgeous trees, Linda. Thanks for sharing a bit of your autumn colors. Here in the desert we have cooled off (40 degrees this morning!!!), but the foliage is green and blooming thanks to the monsoons and early El Nino rains. =)
ReplyDeleteAmong the leaves, green is still here too, Bridget, but we all know winter is upon us, in the forties here too, but warmer again on the weekend. Thanks for stopping by!
DeleteBeautiful, beautiful, beautiful. Linda, you brighten my life. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Ricki, nice to do so on a Friday!
DeleteI love your photos and poems. We've had an amazing fall here, too, with unseasonably warm temperatures this week.I can't wrap my head around snow coming, though. It was 72 degrees here yesterday and I took a walk to bask in the fall beauty still clinging to the trees. Back to a more seasonal 50 today.
ReplyDeleteYes, sounds just like our time this week, Carmela. The fall has been spectacular, & we keep saying that! Thanks!
DeleteOh, no! You used the "s" word--as in "snow." ...This year, I've told myself, I'm going to try to appreciate more the falling and fallen snow. ...Meanwhile, thanks to your beautiful photos and poems shared, I'm still reveling in autumn. God bless you!
ReplyDeleteThank you. I do like snow, even when it's a lot, but realize that those who have to work outside aren't too excited about it.
DeleteOur trees have been gorgeous this fall but now are mostly bare. Love your poem, and thank you for sharing "On the Shortest of Days." I love Sutphen's poetry, but I missed this one.
ReplyDeleteAh, so glad you liked it, Catherine. Me, too. Thanks.
DeleteI love your habit of taking notice and celebrating the seasons as they unfold, Linda. I wish we had a bit more of that unfolding here in Florida!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Michelle, it is interesting to me to imagine not being somewhere where seasons change little, but I do love Florida.
Delete"On the Shortest Days" is lovely, Linda. What an ending! I like that you used Karla Kuskin's poem as a springboard for your own. We're savoring the moment, aren't we?
ReplyDeleteYes, we are savoring, for longer than usual this year. Thanks Tabatha, happy you liked the Sutphen poem. It is lovely.
DeleteSo lovely. Can't believe there's snow already!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Ruth, and actually we usually have snow even earlier. We do need the moisture!
DeleteLove these lines:
ReplyDelete"Ladders lean against the hills
and people climb, rung by rung, into the night."
Thanks for sharing this poem! I'm just like you, always stopping the car to take another tree picture. I almost didn't put one in today's Celebrate post, but I'm dazzled daily. I even celebrate when the branches are bare . . . a lovely beauty all its own.
And they are now becoming bare, at least some of them. Love your "dazzled daily". Me, too!
DeleteWe had a gorgeous fall, but it is well and truly November now, with skeleton trees outlined against grey skies. There are a couple of gingkoes in the neighborhood that haven't dropped their leaves, and I'm looking forward to that -- I love how they go from dressed to undressed over night.
ReplyDeleteMany of our trees dropped the leaves just since I wrote this post, winds up! Like you, still have a few to go, but it's back to nearly 60 again. What a fall! Thanks, Mary Lee.
Delete