Leaf Scuffing

Heart-shaped green Catalpa leaf with other leaves

My dragging feet find
note cards from the multi-verse
with its stanzas of seasons,
rhyming couplets of colors, Continue reading

Ferns Found

Ferns of all shades of green and brown

a palette of earthtones
paints hillsides
with Autumn song Continue reading

Halloween Color

 

Halloween
haunted in harvest reds
summer’s fallen

Note: Here’s a happy halloween haiku for you!

October Blooms

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October blooms are
heavy under gray skies.
Summer is a faded smudge
on the hydrangeas. Continue reading

Lune for the Moon

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gray and white,
clouds unroll like mummy wrappings
for the moon

Notes: Happy October! I’m gearing up for Halloween. Continue reading

Vibrant all Year – WPC

Summer

raspberries

watermelon

Twin Pink Dahlias

hibiscus Continue reading

Trees and Memories

Golden and red leaves in sunshine

Here in the woods,
the light doesn’t quite shine.
In the deeper quiet, I
hear only the wind and
the laughter of leaves.
The sunshine is distant.
Here in the twilight,
I can think my thoughts,
without its brightness,
blinding my eyes.

Copyright 2015 Brenda Davis Harsham

Note: This poem is part of a longer poem. Is there a place where you can be yourself? Where you can be free, use your outdoor voice, sing or dance or remember?

Purple Sage

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fragrant leaves
rough with musky spice
song of summer

Copyright 2015 Brenda Davis Harsham

Note: This is a good-bye to my herb garden, which spiced my soups and stews this summer and fall. Pictured are two varieties of purple sage, which are not culinary. I also grow lavender, green sage, thyme, oregano, basil, parsley, tarragon, mint, chives and rosemary. When my herb garden goes dormant for winter, I’ll be waiting for spring. Only the basil and rosemary won’t come back.

Finding Red

Oak leaves with red at the edges

A toddler oak glints like rubies.
Too young for acorns, trunk,
Or boughs, just a sprig,
a sprout, a snip of joy,
with earth between its toes,
it has unfolded proudly.
Its leaves flower in fall,
alight, aglow, aflame,
crimson with yearning for spring.
Its sire has amber leaves and brown
scattered about the ground.
Does the tiny tree dread
gale force winds, ice and snow
more than its older kin?

Copyright 2015 Brenda Davis Harsham

Red Maple Tanka

Red Leaf, tips curled, as if remembering

flight
one perfect moment
remembered

fingers curled in longing
to relive one’s height

Copyright 2015 Brenda Davis Harsham

Do you have one time in your life you would relive if you could?

Leaves Rain

Three Maple Leaves

leaves rain
tree tears spiral and tumble
mourning summer

Copyright 2015 Brenda Davis Harsham

Maple tree in color

Squashed Sonnet

Gourds

Freckle Goblin wriggles under gourds,
tired by a night’s divine carousing.
Freckle dreams of youthful fun in fjords.
After chasing ghosts, he can’t help drowsing.
Boom! He wakes to sulfur scents and peril.
Freckle peeks. He spots fair Glisten Rue.
“Enemy!” he hisses, turning feral.
“Flee, you witch!” he snarls. She pouts: “Listen, you
ruined parties, chased a lovely spirit.
This will be your Halloween goodnight!”
“No, my lady,” Freckle shouts, “I fear it
will be you destroyed!” He swings his right.
Acorn squash, gourds and pumpkins tumble.
Mashed and bashed, she flees. Trip and stumble!
Goblins rule on Halloween night —
even scary witches flee with fright.

Copyright 2015 Brenda Davis Harsham

Pumpkins

Notes:

Happy Halloween!

The first 14 lines of this is a sonnet, rhyming ABABCDCDEFEFGG. It didn’t feel quite finished to me, so I threw in a bonus couplet for those trick-or-treaters reading to the end. For the meter nerds in the crowd, it’s written in trochaic pentameter. In plain English, each line has ten syllables, alternately stressed and unstressed, with maybe a few variations. It took DAYS to write!! Now that’s frightening!

This is linked to the Third Annual Spooky Writing Challenge at the Writing Works in Progress Blog. Also, this is my entry for Poetry Friday (if a bit late in the day), hosted this week by Check it Out. Yeah for poetry! Thanks to all the great poetry writers and fans in Poetry Friday’s crowd!

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