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Invitation to Poetry: Autumn Blessings

Welcome to Poetry Party No. 47!

I select an image and suggest a theme/title and invite you to respond with your poems or other reflections. Add your responses in the comments section. Feel free to take your poem in any direction and then post the image and invitation on your blog (if you have one) and encourage others to come join the party! (permission is granted to reprint the image if a link is provided back to this post)

Please post your poem in the comments section below (feel free to include a link to your blog – it would be wonderful to have all of the full text of all the poems gathered together below).


Poetry Party Theme: Autumn Blessings

Autumn is my favorite season (followed closely by winter). I love the air getting crisper, I love the harvest of fall squashes, I love the transformation of the landscape into a witness to the beauty that can be found in surrender. Seven years ago my mother died suddenly in the month of October and my long walks among the autumn leaves offered me tremendous comfort in the depths of my grief. The seasons offer us great wisdom when we listen to their invitations and questions.

I invite you to write a poem about the gifts, graces, invitations, questions, and challenges of autumn. Let your words be a celebration and exploration.


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81 Responses

  1. I dance under this tree
    This tree which stands as a harbor for all the hopes that
    Have set sail underneath her

    There were stones
    Whose ripples
    Stole away the flesh of my desires and dreams

    But Your wind blew them back to me

  2. Dies Irae Dies Irae

    Mozart’s Requiem
    haunts the chambers of autumn
    haunts the echoing rooms of sadness
    this dying time of year
    calling forth from the closed doors
    of my heart
    a slow and tender procession
    of loved ones

    I watch
    frozen in grief
    as they pass
    under the crying trees
    on their way to eternity

    Lacrimosa dies illa
    the music fades
    Mozart’s Requiem
    autumn

  3. For me Fall means Samhain and All Saint’s Day.

    “Remember”

    Remember! The wind howls through the canyon of the city:
    Remember the roads you traveled,
    Who you were,
    And who you are.

    Remember! the wind whispers through the leaves and along the graves:
    Remember where you came from,
    Those you come from,
    And those who came before.

    Remember to honor the saints and your ancestors:
    Remember to raise a glass,
    Eat with them,
    And pray with them.

    Remember how the veil thins and briefly you see the unseeable–
    Remember the old magic–
    The Other World comes close;
    Be quiet and listen.