Thursday, October 02, 2014

Poetry Friday -- Pumpkins

This:

Flickr Creative Commons photo by Liz West


And this:

A.E. Housman said, "Knowledge is good, method is good, but one thing beyond all others is necessary; and that is to have a head, not a pumpkin, on your shoulders and brains, not pudding, in your head."


And last of all, this:

Carl Sandburg, from Smoke and Steel, 1922

V. Mist Forms
13. Tawny

THESE are the tawny days: your face comes back.
The grapes take on purple: the sunsets redden early on the trellis.
The bashful mornings hurl gray mist on the stripes of sunrise.
Creep, silver on the field, the frost is welcome.
Run on, yellow balls on the hills, and you tawny pumpkin flowers, chasing your lines of orange.
Tawny days: and your face again.



Happy Friday, Happy Poetry, Happy Autumn.


Jama has the Poetry Friday roundup at Jama's Alphabet Soup.

19 comments:

  1. "Run on, yellow balls on the hills" is a great line! Last October I went to a conference and had to leave at the crack of dawn for the 2-hour drive. On the way, I passed a field of frost-covered pumpkins. If I had not gotten up early, I never would have seen it, for the rising sun quickly warmed everything. It was a once-in-a-lifetime sight. The photo above brought it to mind.

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  2. I love "tawny days" - so much meaning in just two words. thanks for sharing!

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  3. Anonymous5:51 AM

    Love the images from Sandburg's poem! Happy Friday, Happy Poetry, Happy Autumn to you, Mary Lee!

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  4. "Bashful mornings" -- You've got to love Sandburg.

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  5. "These are the tawny days..." I love fall, pumpkins, colorful leaves, chilly days, apple cider, Thanksgiving, etc., etc. That photo and this poem get me in the mood for this wonderful season. :-)

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  6. I love the face in this poem... it adds a whole other layer, doesn't it? And "tawny" is such a great word all by itself. Thank you, Mary Lee!

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  7. Anonymous8:18 AM

    Beautiful! Fall is my favorite season and this poem is icing on the chill I feel in the air this morning. Thanks for sharing.

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  8. I just returned from beautiful autumn in Pennsylvania-the post is for that place! Love "the sunsets redden early on the trellis." Thanks Mary Lee

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  9. Anonymous10:28 AM

    Happy October, everyone!

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  10. Just lovely. "Bashful mornings hurl gray mist". What a great verb there!

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  11. What gorgeous words in your post today! Oh, tawny days!

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  12. Sure wish we could get some of that frost on the pumpkin. Fall in the desert is temperatures cool enough to open windows at night and listen to the coyotes howl.
    Loved the Sandburg and the picture. Thank you.

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  13. Gorgeous poem with its face of autumn. But I maintain, some days, pudding happens.

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  14. Loved the Sandburg poem...but I really relate to the pumpkin on the shoulders and pudding in the head!

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  15. Love these tawny days...hello, October!

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  16. I've been noticing sunsets while running and sunrises while walking. I think I need to look for some poetry lines within these. Thanks for the inspiration.

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  17. I love the picture and the quote and the pumpkin flowers chasing their lines of orange. Happy Autumn!

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  18. We don't have autumn in our part of the world, but it's always glorious to see photographs of orange leaves and these lovely pumpkinheads too. :)

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  19. Enjoy your tawny days!

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