ROBERT SNAP SPOT
October Writings
A feather pen, familiar poems, and memories worth revisiting.
Thoughtful Thursday – Poetry
October, You Have My Attention
On an afternoon walk Neal and I purposely directed our path towards a seasonal treasure. The cooler weather and earlier evenings said “Get out, be among the first to see!”
When we arrived, Wow! It did not disappoint!
I look down at that feather pen, standing over those books. “Click!” “Blog worthy”, I thought.
It was part of a larger Fall and Halloween display at a historic downtown home known for its seasonal decorating, this year with a nod to Edgar Allan Poe.
“Nevermore” came to mind, but October is a month I’m happy to welcome back! Yes, you can quote me on that… Ha!
“October makes me want to revisit a poem and see which memory comes with it.””
– Robert
It’s one of my favorite times of the year, a season for pausing and looking a little longer.
So please, October, give me a comfy chair and a familiar poem, and I may stay awhile.
A Feather’s Worth of Possibilities
A Few Words Before Winter
That display sent my thoughts from Poe to the other poets who have given October a voice.
Robert Frost asks, “Make the day seem to us less brief”. Yes, please!
Mary Oliver’s “trap of attention” feels familiar to someone who keeps stopping for photographs.
Then Bobbi Katz brings an “orange sherbet sunset”, Carl Sandburg supplies jack-o’-lanterns with “terrible teeth”, and Helen Hunt Jackson celebrates “October’s bright blue weather”.
There’s room for all those moods this month. I can enjoy a Halloween grin and still find myself lingering over a line that brings an earlier autumn to mind.
Ellis Parker Butler’s “October” belongs here, too, with its bright celebration before winter arrives.
“Let October have its carnival. I’m happy to linger over the words.”
– Robert
October
by Ellis Parker Butler
The forest holds high carnival to-day,
And every hill-side glows with gold and fire;
Ivy and sumac dress in colors gay,
And oak and maple mask in bright attire.
The hoarded wealth of sober autumn days
In lavish mood for motley garb is spent,
And nature for the while at folly plays,
Knowing the morrow brings a snowy Lent.
THE CONVERSATION CONTINUES
Leave October a Line
I’d love to read a line from your own October, whether it begins with a memory or something you noticed today.
What is October asking you to put into words?
“I’m grateful for poems that keep an autumn close, even after the season has passed.”
— Robert
📍 Downtown Historic Savannah, Georgia
Collection
Thoughtful Thursday, Poetry
Captured with
iPhone 18 Pro Max
Published by
Robert Snap Spot
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