Tuesday, November 3, 2020

November sky is

 

a coarse wrapping paper 

i uncover

with my ink-smudged hands


i expect nothing but bleakness,

faded maple leaves, deadheaded flowers

in this red poppy box


night descends by 5 pm

darkness becomes a womb, 

a church, smell of incense for prayers for the dead-


(less 1 hour, 30 candles)

yet on first day, flicker of frost

whitest of fluff rains down


this is nature's quartet:   winter 

an aperture

where the soul song of maple trees

trills with cries of the geese & gulls-



Posted for dVerse Poets Pub - November Poetics, hosted by Sanaa Rizvi.  We had our first frost in November 1st.   Thanks for your visits and comments.


21 comments:

  1. We have had this type of November sky mostly, but it cleared up today... love how you described the frost coming as something of a relief with its white fluff..

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  2. Oh, I’m familiar with ‘coarse wrapping paper’ skies, Grace, and like you I ‘expect nothing but bleakness’. A beautiful capture of a dark and dreary month. My favourite lines:
    ‘this is nature's quartet: winter
    an aperture
    where the soul song of maple trees
    trills with cries of the geese & gulls’.

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  3. you can sing the seasons! Pure poetry here in every line
    "winter

    an aperture"
    I will remember this line always

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  4. I love these lines:

    "this is nature's quartet: winter

    an aperture

    where the soul song of maple trees

    trills with cries of the geese & gulls-"

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  5. This is incredibly exquisite, Grace! Such a wonderful natural flow to this poem. I especially love; "winter an aperture where the soul song of maple trees trills with cries of the geese & gulls." Yes!💝

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  6. I like how you term it as an 'aperture'.

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  7. Lovely final stanza! Such a quietly mystical poem.

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  8. Oh Grace! That last stanza is wonderful- From the bleakness of the maples to their soul song - lovely!

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  9. Most of our geese are gone, sadly, leaving only crows and an occasional hawk. You nailed November, Grace. Thanks.

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  10. The change from day to night like Autumn to Winter, inescapable whether we like it or not

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  11. Did you give the cost of the extended darkness in candles? Ow, yeah. So much disappointment in the opening then the light of snow... I love winter as an aperture; some acceptance perhaps.

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  12. I like your referring to the season as being in a red poppy box. Great metaphor!

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  13. Very interesting the tantrums of Autumn leaving
    Stay safe

    Much💙love

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  14. 'night descends by 5 pm

    darkness becomes a womb,

    a church, smell of incense for prayers for the dead-'

    You've captured the inky-black melancholy of Autumn so well here, Grace. Thank Goodness there is still poetry in it!

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  15. "The soul song of maple trees" is so beautiful! I also like the imagery of darkness becoming a womb. So much to uncover in this poem, it is mystical!

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  16. Amazing Grace!
    Like how you describe darkness as in womb...

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  17. November cold brings frost and snow. I liked this line...
    yet on first day, flicker of frost

    whitest of fluff rains down

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  18. We're having unseasonably warm days with sunshine this week. No doubt snow is in the offing, but we can treasure these days as they come to us. Your poem is a beautiful capture of Novembers!

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  19. Splendid writing, Grace, and I particularly like "darkness becomes a womb, a church, smell of incense for prayers for the dead."

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  20. Beautiful writing Grace and those last lines are stunning.

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  21. Oh so lovely .... as a musician, these words resonated deeply ~ 'this is nature's quartet: winter an aperture' ~ thank you.

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