October 31: Halloween walk at Merryspring

The child carries around

the chestnut husk

as if it were a new pet.

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October 30: Coffee shop

In the sun with chai

reading MFK Fisher

awake to the world

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October 29: In the face of loss

incandescent leaves, lit gold

golden-crowned kinglet

singing, "I'm still here!"

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October 28: Like rain, like fleeing prey

Cat and I fixated

as yellow leaves fall

one after another

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October 27: Full Moon

I'd forgotten the full moon

already setting

through the willow tree

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October 26: Walk at Merryspring

three turkey feathers

flagging the path through the field

where I'm meant to go

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October 25: Closing time at the library

Late sun, then clouds--

sky a slowly closing book

I've just started to read.

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October 24: Closer

Venus, Jupiter, and Mars move ever closer together in the pre-dawn hours. This morning, right out my front door, so bright, I wanted to keep staring and staring until they dimmed with the sunrise.

 

Above: three planets.

Below: wild turkeys feeding

in a misty field.

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October 23: Pears, Part Three

Finally got to peeling and slicing up all those pears from Tom, and made with them a really delicious (crustless) mascarpone custard tart: from objets d'art to hand-crafted edible, both incarnations a delight.

 

Poetic bowl of pears--

transformed by my hands

into an ambrosial tart.

 

 

Recipe:

Peel and slice 6 medium pears.

Arrange in buttered baking dish.

Sprinkle with 1 tsp sugar.

 

Cream 4 T butter and 1/2 c sugar until light.

Beat in 1 egg, then 2/3 c of mascarpone cheese.

Stir in 2 T flour last and mix well. Spoon over fruit.

 

Bake for about 30 minutes or until set at 350 degrees.

 

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October 22: Waxing moon

I turn to the moon

for answers, but the moon's face

is blank as ever.

 

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October 21: Pears, Part Two

I find myself

so fascinated by

the bowl of phallic pears.

 

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October 20: Pears

Drinking Earl Grey
eating chocolate and pears
not at all lonely.

October 19: Tom's house

Visited a friend's lovely, sunlit, beautifully landscaped home full of books and art, met his cat named for a favorite poet, walked in the woods, left with a bag of pears from a tree in his backyard.

 

Golden afternoon--

Mary Oliver (the cat),

basket of pears.

 

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October 18: Blueberry barrens

Over crimson fields:

migrating hawks, milkweed fluff

whirling with snowflakes.

 

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October 17: Pleiades

Driving home tonight

toward the hazy Pleiades,

deer watching roadside.

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October 16: Camden Amphitheatre

Rows of empty chairs

set up for an outside wedding.

Rain clouds passing.

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October 15: Hamlet

Tonight we saw the National Theatre of London's intriguing performance of "Hamlet" streamed live, starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Hamlet.

 

After the play ends,

a plea for refugee aid--

this work of being human.

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October 14: Sunrise

Red sky in morning,

and three planets still high, bright--

there's hope for us yet.

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October 13: The randomness of memory

This poem, from a moment this morning...

Phrases from a song

last heard playing in a bar

this past summer.

 

...leads to this one, from a moment in August:

 

Night out by myself

on the streets of Old Quebec,

happy observer.

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October 12: Solitude

How to be lonely
with crows making a racket,
the beauty of these trees?

October 11: Thar she blows

On a pelagic birding trip today on the Granite State out of Rye, New Hampshire, we were fortunate enough to observe, in addition to the birdlife, at least six Humpback Whales and many White-sided Dolphins, some of them quite close to the boat.

 

Plume of whale's breath--

we too exhale, exclaim,

what a joy to be breathing.

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October 10: Coat of Arms

Three crows flying

on a field of clover green

quartered by blue sky.

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October 9: Reading signs

When something important with an uncertain outcome happens, I think our natural tendency is to look for signs around us that might indicate how things will end up. But this can work either way if you look too closely:

A.
After the interview
two road-killed porcupines
and a broken wiper.

B.
After the interview
burnished, rain-bright, seaside field,
year's cheapest gas.

October 8: Leaves are starting to turn

End of the season--
chestnuts on the tin barn roof,
sparrows at field's edge.

October 7: In the feeder

Pert fledgling sparrow

has no idea

what it's in for this winter.

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October 6: Inhale

Still green and leafy

the trees in my backyard

are holding their breath.

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October 5: Exhale

Sunset behind Hannaford--

exhalation of light

makes me say "aaah."

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October 4: Stonington, Day Three

Barred Island Preserve

 

Only fall's chill

keeps me from rolling in that moss,

swimming at that beach.

 

 

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October 3: Stonington, Day Two

Every lawn hosts crows.

On a granite fence post

an offering of pears.

 

 

 

 

 

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October 2: Stonington, Day One

Deer Isle, on which the town of Stonington is found, is one of the granite centers of Maine, with active quarries still cutting monument-quality granite. As we drove into town, we passed a flat-bed truck hauling a massive, multi-tone block of granite, a beautiful hunk of Maine stone.

 

Driving to Stonington--

truck hauls a block of granite

off the island.

 

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October 1: Winter Is Coming

The heat's back on.

We feast on cooking shows

while the cat sleeps and sleeps.

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