The first startling snow melts.
The evidence of an odd year
disappears into wet puddles
and sodden soil, cold and drear.
So too do my hopes of forming
warm indoor parties of friends,
family, neighbors and classmates,
driven distant by disease trends.
To defeat covid, my daily mask
forces every day into Halloween.
The holiday itself is anticlimactic.
I enter November in between,
in between fall and winter,
in between despair and hope,
in between movement and stasis.
Every day, walking a tightrope,
while a divisive election enrages,
gun purchases surge, militias train,
and social media gives voice to trolls.
I have November on the brain.
Copyright 2020 Brenda Davis Harsham
Notes: The first Halloween where one of our tasks was to clear away 5 inches of snow. Then we arranged an outdoor party in icy weather, with heaters ticking, chili bubbling in the slow cooker, and mulled cider scenting the cold air. A few brave trick-or-treaters went past, but otherwise, it was the darkest and coldest Halloween of recent memory. I couldn’t get warm afterwards, for hours.
“November’s sky is chill and drear,
November’s leaf is red and sear.”
– Sir Walter Scott
29 thoughts on “November on the Brain”
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Friendly Fairy Tales 
I’m glad you wrote this, Brenda. It surely resonates with us northerners!
I hope you’re doing well.
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This November has been surprisingly warm after that early snow. We’re doing okay. Glad to hear that vaccines might be on the way.
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Reblogged this on By the Mighty Mumford and commented:
TELLING IT LIKE MANY OF US FEEL IT, BRENDA!
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I’m glad you can relate. What difficult days we’re living through.
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OH YEAH! 😀
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You speak for all of us. Almost like you are in my house! The snow melted with the newest storm of rain, winds, then more snow. Weather stuck in November, too.
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It’s just been a year of cataclysmic weirdness. As if we crossed the threshold into Crazytown.
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And we all have the same crazy at the same time!
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I miss seeing my friends in person, but I feel so busy that I wonder how I had time for that. I’ve never spent so much time on my house yet it never feels under control. It’s just a year of contrasts. I hope your house is overall happy, as mine is. We are all experiencing 2020 as a weird year, yet we are generally healthy and happy.
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Yes! It does seem time runs differently. And lack of hugs and too much housework skew our perspectives. But, yes, grateful for healthy family and friends. We’ll get through this yet! 💜🤗
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We will show our character and rise above the petty problems. No doubt we’ll look back on these days and appreciate how close it brought us together with our family.
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Well, said!
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Novembre nel cervello
La prima neve sorpresa si scioglie.
L’evidenza di un anno strano
scompare in pozzanghere umide
e terreno fradicio, freddo e tetro.
Così anche le mie speranze di organizzare
calde feste al chiuso di amici,
familiari, vicini e compagni di classe,
allontanati dai rischi di contagio.
Per sconfiggere covid, la mia maschera quotidiana
costringe ogni giorno ad Halloween.
La vacanza in sé è deludente.
Entro metà novembre,
tra l’autunno e l’inverno,
tra disperazione e speranza,
tra movimento e stasi.
Ogni giorno, camminando sul filo del rasoio,
mentre un’elezione divisiva infuria, gli
acquisti di armi aumentano, le milizie si addestrano
e i social media danno voce ai troll.
Ho novembre nel cervello.
Copyright 2020 Brenda Davis Harsham
Ho tradotto in italiano questa tua bellissima poesia e, se sei d’accordo la inserirò nella rubrica Gioielli Rubati del prossimo 15 novembre, grazie e saluti dall’Italia
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How talented you are, and the translation is beautiful, even to my untrained ear. I’ve always envied people who are fluent in other languages. I would be happy for your to post your translation. Grazie mille!
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Prego, saluti dall’Italia
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Saluti.
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❤ ❤ These are troubling times.
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❤ At least we can focus our thoughts on poetry. What do people do who don’t have that consolation? 🙂
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This sums up the year
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I wish it didn’t. So many countries are enduring the 2020 madness right now. We’re all in it together, I guess.
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Indeed
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I appreciate this, Brenda dear!
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What a wonderful way to express thoughts so many of us have.
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I’m glad I’m not alone. Thanks for leaving me a comment.
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Present situation in a nutshell 👍🤝
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Thanks for chiming in.
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You wrote for a lot of us.
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I hope people will vote. And thanks for your comment.
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