poetry friday roundup is here!

~ jama
Welcome Friends, Please Come In!

Why hello! What brings you here?

A poetry lover? You’re just the person I was hoping to see! Come in, make yourself at home, and help yourself to a cup of warm cider. Would you like an apple cider donut to go with that?

via heidi33

Today I’m happy to share one of my very favorite Autumn poems ever, by the one and only Barbara Crooker. She has perfectly captured the gorgeous melancholy that defines the season. Whenever I read this poem aloud, I’m amazed anew at the beauty of the English language and marvel at Barbara’s diction, phrasing, and musicality. Quite simply: a polished gem, a word painting, a heart song that takes my breath away.

THIS TIME OF YEAR,

when the light leaves early, sun slipping down
behind the beech trees as easily as a spoon
of cherry cough syrup, four deer step delicately
up our path, just at the moment when the colors
shift, to eat fallen apples in the tall grass.
Great grey ghosts. If we steal outside in the dark,
we can hear them chew. A sudden movement,
they’re gone, the whiteness of their tails
a burning afterimage. A hollow pumpkin moon rises,
turns the dried corn to chiaroscuro, shape and shadow;
the breath of the wind draws the leaves and stalks
like melancholy cellos. These days are songs, noon air
that flows like warm honey, the maple trees’ glissando
of fat buttery leaves. The sun goes straight to the gut
like a slug of brandy, an eau-de-vie. Ochre October:
the sky, a blue dazzle, the grand finale of trees,
this spontaneous applause; when darkness falls
like a curtain, the last act, the passage of time,
that blue current; October, and the light leaves early,
our radiant hungers, all these golden losses.

~ copyright © 2005 Barbara Crooker (from Radiance, published by Word Press). All rights reserved.

Show us your poems!

Please leave your links with Mr. Linky below. Don’t forget to include the title of your poem or book you’re reviewing in parentheses after your name. I will update throughout the day.

TODAY’S POETRY FRIDAY MENU (sip, savor, chew, swallow):

1. Charles Ghigna (“House of Perfection”)

2. Heidi Mordhorst (“Twenty-four Doors,” an original)

3. jama (“Apple Season”)

4. Gathering Books (Walking Free by Gemino Abad)

5. Teacher Dance (A Goodbye, original)

6. Robyn Hood Black (original wolfy poetry)

7. Amy LV (“I Love Choosing” & P*Tag!)

8. Judy (To the Grass of Autumn, W.S. Merwin)

9. Susan Taylor Brown (Proof of Life, original poem)

10. Mary Lee (Subway Poem)

11. Carol (“To Failure” by Philip Larkin)

12. Tabatha (Edward Shanks)

13. Tara (October poems by Bobbi Katz)

14. Ben @ The Small Nouns (Poetry Mix  Tape: Autumn Poems)

15. Maria Horvath’s Daily Poems (“For an Amorous Lady”)

16. Laura Salas (Dogku by Andrew Clements)

17. Laura Salas (15 Words or less poems)

18. KK’s Kwotes (quote by Paul Janeczko)

19. Kurious Kitty (Where Home Begins)

20. Diane Mayr (“Power Source”)

21. Kids of the Homefront Army (“Up Late”)

22. Julie Larios (P*Tag)

23. Greg Pincus (“My Father’s Hair”)

24. Irene Latham (Ars Poetica 5 for Friday)

25. Sara Lewis Holmes (Bad Taste)

26. Sylvia Vardell (Upcoming presentation at the IBBY Regional Conference)

27. Wild Rose Reader (Original Halloween Haiku)

28. The Write Sisters (Now Close the Windows)

29. Katie @ Secrets & Sharing Soda (Lemonade by Bob Raczka)

31. Donna (Shushing)

32. david e. (haul-o-ween)

33. Miss Rumphius (At the Sea Floor Café)

34. April @ Teaching Authors (two Thankus)

35. Janet Squires (Hallowilloween)

36. Kelly Ramsdell Fineman (Troubled Water)

37. Mandy Webster (Rules for the Dance by Mary Oliver)

38. Joyce Ray (J. Patrick Lewis poetry exercise)

39. MsMac (Robert Frost)

40. Ruth (Villain)

41. Wrung Sponge (original haiku)

42. Adrienne (Walt Whitman)

43. Polka Dot Owl (Jack Prelutsky)

——————————————————————————–

Thanks for participating and have a good weekend!

 

 

Copyright © 2011 Jama Rattigan of Jama’s Alphabet Soup. All rights reserved.

46 thoughts on “poetry friday roundup is here!”

  2. My favorite lines from the poem:
    “the breath of the wind draws the leaves and stalks
    like melancholy cellos. These days are songs, noon air
    that flows like warm honey, the maple trees’ glissando
    of fat buttery leaves.”

    – how beautifully vivid. captures the song that is autumn.

    Here are my favorite lines from YOUR description of the poem:
    “a polished gem, a word painting, a heart song that takes my breath away” – my spirit is moved with that.

    Our Poetry Friday Link is Walking Free by Gemino Abad as posted by Iphigene:
    http://gatheringbooks.wordpress.com/2011/10/21/poetry-friday-walking-free-by-gemino-h-abad/

    Like

  4. Thank you, Jama, for sharing such a gorgeous poem (and pictures!) I love so much of the language here – “A hollow pumpkin moon rises,
    turns the dried corn to chiaroscuro, shape and shadow” – and the idea of celebrating these autumn nights as well as brilliant days. I’m celebrating wolves today here.

    Like

  5. What a beautiful, beautiful poem. And thank you for the suggestion to read it aloud! I wish, Jama, that I could reach into this screen and hand you a glass of fresh pressed cider and a brimful bowl of caramel corn. You are so generous to all of us, and it always feels homey here, in word and photo. Gratitude to you!

    Today I have a poem about choosing one’s own clothes along with a poem by Janet Wong and a fat smile for P*TAG.

    http://www.poemfarm.amylv.com/2011/10/i-love-choosing-hooray-for-ptag.html

    A.

    Like

  6. Thanks for hosting, Jama. I’m back in it, at last, with an original poem.

    Love the fall poem you shared. Favorite lines for me are:

    “as easily as a spoon
    of cherry cough syrup, ”

    “Great grey ghosts. If we steal outside in the dark,
    we can hear them chew. ”

    This poem is new to me. I am copying it to my favorites book.

    Like

  8. Jama, can it be that I haven’t visited since you moved over to WordPress? No, I swooned over your photo of edward estlin…but today the loveliness of the new blog look is much more apparent to me.

    It is matched only by the loveliness of “all these golden losses.” What a stunner indeed. It makes me realize that for children this season is one of plenty, of chills, thrills and anticipation, but we adults can’t help but sense the daily dying. Maybe that’s why so many of us worship at the Halloween altar–it takes our minds off the inevitable.

    Thanks for hosting, Jama.

    Like

  9. Thank you for hosting today. And for sharing that lovely poem, complete with visual treats! Ive posted two poems by Bobbi Katz about the joys of October.

    Like

  11. Good morning, Jama.

    Thank you for hosting Poetry Friday this week.

    “Ochre October:
    the sky, a blue dazzle, the grand finale of trees,
    this spontaneous applause”

    I can hear it, this beautiful performance.

    Today at my blog the poet shows how even the most unexpected metaphor can be transformed into a loving compliment.

    http://www.ghpoetryplace.blogspot.com/

    Like

  12. Hi Jama! My favorite bit is:
    Ochre October:
    the sky, a blue dazzle, the grand finale of trees,
    this spontaneous applause;

    The photo of the cider donut is talking to me. I need to make some!

    Like

  13. What a gorgeous poem. October is my favorite month, and this poem captures so much of what I love about it. It’s so rich it’s almost overwhelming!

    Thanks for hosting, Jama, and sharing this.

    And, yes, I WOULD like an apple cider donut. And a cookie for every poem I read today. Thank you for asking:>)

    Like

  17. I’m not contributing today (by including a post, anyway) but wanted to stop by on this lovely Poetry Friday. The poem you shared today is beautiful…as are the images in your post. So crisp, so colorful, so perfect for October…

    Like

  18. Jama,

    Love your autumn post and the poem. The foliage around here hasn’t turned yet. Most of the leaves are still green. This isn’t typical.

    Autumn is my favorite season. My daughter LOVED Halloween when she was little. She used to get SOOOO excited decorating the house.

    Yesterday, I tried writing some Halloween haiku. I posted a few of my “still-in-progress” haikus at Wild Rose Reader today.

    http://wildrosereader.blogspot.com/2011/10/halloween-haiku.html

    Like

  21. Oh, Jama, your house is so beautiful it hurts my heart a little.
    I am so glad that autumn is so gorgeous in your neck of the woods.

    Have a doughnut for me.

    Like

    1. Not to worry, Robyn, all fixed. You were not the only one with a linky prob today. I think Mr. Linky’s cider is spiked :D. Have as many cookies as you want!

      Like

  24. Hi Jama dearest, just a little heads up – most of the links somehow link back to older posts – I visited around three or four now where that happened – must be a glitch with the linkythingy? (another excuse to drop by and take a bite out of that luscious donut)

    Like

    1. Thanks, Myra. I discovered that too, as I was clicking through to read and comment. Very strange. I’ve corrected the ones I’ve found so far; hope there aren’t any more errors. I think the Halloween gremlins are at work!

      Like

  25. Pingback: poetry friday: haul-o-ween « fomagrams

  26. thanks for hosting! whew! hosting is hard work!

    i’m in this week with the flip-side to last week’s halloween costume fail, a poem about a successful night a few years later.

    um, who ate all the cookies?

    Like

    1. Thanks, Judy. Mr. Linky seems to be acting very weird today. Just to make things interesting, of course. I’ve corrected your link. I think you deserve an extra donut or two. 🙂

      Like

  28. Thanks for fixing my link, Jama. Reading Myra’s post makes me feel like I’m not completely losing my mind, as I thought I’d double-checked. And, now I need some cider to wash down that cookie…

    Like

  30. Thanks for hosting, Jama! In light of the oil spill that resulted in the need for penguin sweaters, I’ve posted my own poem, “Troubled Water”, which appeared in the BREAKING WAVES anthology.

    Like

  31. “This Time of Year” is indeed a heart song. Thank you for sharing this beautiful poem, Jama. I love this image: “the breath of the wind draws the leaves and stalks like melancholy cellos.” I’m looking forward to dipping into the many fall poems on today’s Roundup.

    Like

  32. Pingback: Poetry Friday: “Rules for the Dance” « Write on the World

  33. Jama, thanks for hosting. I don’t have an offering of my own today — am way behind on all things after a visit from out-of-town family, but posted the link to your place.

    I love, love, love that Barbara Crooker poem!

    Aaahhhhh, autumn.

    Like

  37. What a collection of wonderful poems! I am already thinking about how I can use some of them in my teaching! I posted one that I already used this week to inspire my little authors: Haunted House by Jack Prelutsky (he’s one of my students’ favorites!) Hope you all enjoy!

    Like

  39. Pingback: 2011 Poetry Friday archive « Jama's Alphabet Soup
  40. Pingback: Poetry Friday: Dogku (Andrew Clements) | laurasalas: writing the world for kids
  41. Pingback: poetry friday roundup is here! « Jama's Alphabet Soup

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