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.
81 Responses
Pay close attention
A nip, a breeze, falling leaves
tropical autumn
Thank yoU Carolyn, I love the invitation to listen.
How delightful!
Trees imprint their leaves
Budding greening goldening
Veins echo branches
It is spring down here
and I yearn for warmth
While for you the year is turning
A dance of sun across the globe
Perfectly balanced
Thank you Tracy, I love the image of sun dancing and the wheel turning.
Autumn Splendor
Trees nestled in this graveyard.
Are enveloped in a misty fog,
In the foreground, a tree with roots
And vibrant red foliage flows
Gently with the fall breeze,
Crisp autumn colors of leaves
In bright red, yellows and oranges
Waft from the trees as fall arrives.
Tombstones mark the memories
Of people gone beyond impacting our lives
Souls in this treasured thin space
Have touched my life leaving a void,
As I think of them and their lives.
Prayerfully I extend my gratitude,
for these people today, I pay tribute.
And offer them a blessing gazing on
God’s gifts of Autumn splendor.
Submitted and Written by:
Victoria MacDonald
© September 13, 2010
Thank you Victoria for this blessing of ancestors.
My stepmother passed away less than a month ago – for many reasons, we had no relationship to speak of. Her passing, however, has opened a door for a renewal of relationship with my “birth” father – in the sadness of her death is the birth of a great good!
Falling
Leaves
Change appearance
Burst in color
Then curl and twist
Lose their grip and fall
Floating gently to the waiting ground
They are not the tree
Not the true essence
But only image
Mere clothing – on
Trees
Ending of image is a promise
Like a rainbow assuring hope
Some cannot see it
Eyes turned inward
Seeing death
Alone
Others rejoice
Eyes wide open
Reveling in new life
Drinking in the enlivening hope
Absorbing the expectancy of the promise
Bodies
Change form
Gain in age
Then curl and twist
Experience disease and great pain
Finally being gently laid in the ground
They are not the person
Not the true essence
But only soma
Mere flesh – on
Life
Thank you Grady for sharing both the story and the poem. “Not the true essence” is a powerful image.
this is very powerful — “but only soma Mere flesh — on Life — very powerful.
Memories
they come like ghosts
floating in my
memories
like autumn fog
misty, gray,
cold, intangible
father, friend,
mother, teacher
death separates us now
all except the memories
holding them in
static lives of yesterday
in their gray world
a universe apart
each lives
as close as thought
within
a gray fog box
©Ruth Jewell, September 13, 2010
There is a tiredness in autumn
A sense that too much energy was used to stay alert and vivbrant
There is an incredible tiredness in autumn
Yet, like when children of the Goddess grow tired,
Sometimes their most beautful colors show through when they are ready to give up
There is a tiredness in autumn
And soon the last colors will fade and the tears of fallen leaves
will demonstrate that the Children of the Light must also give up and rest
The trees listen to the Creator when She says it is time to rest
The trees listen and let go of that which they worked so hard for
The trees listen and slow down and begin the hibernation period so that
when the Spring comes they will have energy unbounding to repeat the cycle of life again
We could learn much from Autumn and the Trees!
Thank you Deb, I love this line especially: “Sometimes their most beautful colors show through when they are ready to give up” – I am hearing autumn’s invitation to rest and it makes my heart sing.
Wow, Deb, especially that last line–they are quite alike!
You really convey that feeling of exhaustion well.
I agree with Christine–that line about the most beautiful colours showing through is my favourite, too.
Lovely.
I think I am longing for some hibernation and rest. A time for the Children of the Light to become Children of the Darkness. Where we can listen and let go. Thank you for your response!
Trees Know How to Grieve (blogged here
Trees know how to grieve.
They weep in crimson and gold,
bold in the sparkling sunlight,
not holed up in a bedroom,
a pile of crumpled tissues beside the bed.
“I am sad,” they say.
“See my sorrow.
I am beautifully, gloriously sad.”
Trees know how to grieve.
They weep together,
a mingling tears on the forest floor,
not crying in a bathroom so no one will see.
“It is hard to say goodbye,” they say.
“We will help one another.”
Trees know how to grieve.
They cry until there are no more tears,
leaving themselves bare and exposed,
not hiding behind pretend smiles and small talk.
“I have nothing left,” they say.
“I must turn inward and gather my strength
for the coming Spring.”
Trees know how to grieve.
We could learn a lot from trees.
wow Amy….i read your poem after I had written mine…the Spirit was moving in us both today along the same path. Your poem is beautiful! I am amazed at how much alike they are! Blessings you and yours! Love and Light, Deb
My husband died in Sept 1991 and I still remember him while walking among the fall trees. It was his favorite season, a season of grieving and letting go. I am beautifully, gloriously sad in the fall. Thank you for the poem.
More beautiful than before those trees, that autumn of his life
Colors radiant and real, here while we were going there.
“Breakfast in Paradise,” he smiled amidst the golden glow
Which followed him and drew us in.
Sunlight kissing outstretched arms raised up in leafy glory
Anticipating , singing praises.
Amy this is stunning… we have so much indeed to learn from trees
Autumn’s Fog
I remember once
when we
travelled
to the mountains
and back.
The vacation
of a lifetime
sitting
in the behemoth
RV that pulled
us along.
You were so
silly at seven
and I was so
smart at ten
that we could
have run the
world with
humor and
grace.
Somewhere we
lost that when
laughter
slowly ceased while
the leaves fell
calling you home.
We lost it as
knowing
became unfathomable
in our lives strewn
upon the altar
of mother’s death.
The faint echo
of laughter and
joy
abandoned in
the fog.
We lost it
when we
lost
each
other.
…wow…
I know the feeling…you’ve captured it.
My dad died last October, and I know exactly what you mean about the comfort autumn offers.
Hopefully I’ll be back with a poem. Looking forward to reading everyone else’s.