Poetry Friday Round-Up Is Here!

Photo courtesy Library of Congress.
Welcome to Poetry Friday brought to you from the great state of New Hampshire! And to celebrate, here's a seasonal poem from a neighbor up the road (a hundred years ago)--Robert Frost:

Gathering Leaves

Spades take up leaves
No better than spoons,
And bags full of leaves
Are light as balloons.

I make a great noise
Of rustling all day
Like rabbit and deer
Running away.

But the mountains I raise
Elude my embrace,
Flowing over my arms
And into my face.

I may load and unload
Again and again
Till I fill the whole shed,
And what have I then?

Next to nothing for weight;
And since they grew duller
From contact with earth,
Next to nothing for color.

Next to nothing for use.
But a crop is a crop,
And who's to say where
The harvest shall stop?

This year, the leaves have been less than spectacular. We've had a lot of rain and wind, and much of the color has ended up stuck to windshields and on the ground. Like Frost's crop, ours this year has grown duller "from contact with earth."

Autumn leaves in their various states of change have been inspiration for poems for as long as there have been poets, and probably for as long as there have been leaves. I imagine the delight of cave men upon seeing the brilliant colors of autumn--the same as we find delight today! I imagine the autumn melancholia, too, is the same.

Share your links in the comments below and I'll post them. I may sneak out for a few hours in the afternoon, but I'll get to all the links as quickly as I can.

I'll begin with my own links: At Kids of the Homefront Army, I continue through the war with a poem that is a bit sad, but that's what war is...

At Kurious Kitty's Kurio Kabinet I have a creepy flower poem--yes, there is such a thing--by Amy Lowell. And, at KK's Kwotes, there's a little something from Carl Sandburg.

A few early birds chimed in:

Charles Ghigna, a.k.a. Father Goose, was super early--before the sun even set in NH last night! He shares a fun little holiday poem, "Halloween Candy Check" from his book, Halloween Night.

Robyn Hood Black has an interview with poet Irene Latham. What an accomplished lady, she is. As if her poetry wasn't enough to wow me--Irene completed a quilt-a-month challenge! And isn't this a great quote?--"I believe strongly that the most important thing I can do for my writing is go out and live a life worth writing about."

If you click here, you'll be transported to GatheringBooks half-way round the world in Singapore! There Myra shares "Day and Night" by Gemino H. Abad.

At Musings, fellow New Hampshire citizen, Joyce Ray, talks about our first taste of snow for the season (yes, it's true, we had snow, but not enough to make me think about putting on gloves just yet). She also features a poem, "Blue Snow," from Donald Hall's latest (and last?) collection.

Camille at A Curious Thing found that Guyku: A Year of Haiku for Boys appeals to boys--both young and old.

Laura Salas celebrates National Chocolates Day with a J. Patrick Lewis poem. Sometimes it's best to resist a chocolate craving! Laura also has a nice bunch of 15 Words or Less poems here.

And now we have those who were up at the crack of dawn!

Of course someone who lives on The Poem Farm would be up with the birds! Amy shares an original poem about nesting and she shares the fabulous news that her book Forest Has a Song will be out in the spring of 2013. It'll be here before you know it, Amy!

Tara at A Teaching Life reports that she heard Naomi Shibab Nye read recently, and so, she shares a poem and a little Nye story. Nice!

Gregory K. has an original poem just in time for the upcoming festivities: "I’m the Squeak upon the Stair..." And Greg hints that he's going to be looking for some peanut butter cups on Monday.

Tabatha Yeatts surprised me with her question after the poem "To My Brother Killed In Battle." Check it out.

Heidi shares "Totem" by Eamon Grennan at My Juicy Little Universe. (It always makes me smile when I read her blog title!) "Totem" is a marvelously descriptive poem about a pumpkin giving way to decomposition.

Andi Sibley has a video of Micah Bourne's contemplation of shampoo for "normal hair." The line "There is something divine about you," takes us into a whole other direction. Glorious!

Mary Lee reviews Laura Purdie Salas' new book Bookspeak!: Poems about Books. Mary Lee has a thing for "bird blobs"--who knew?

More proof that great minds think alike, Jama Rattigan also reviewed Laura's book here, and she looks at Jon Muth's adaptation of Bob Dylan's "Blowin in the Wind," here. Muth, as an illustrator, uses metaphor, too. I'm so glad that Jama points this out for us.

News: The 16 Commonwealth nations have voted and women may now ascend the throne in the United Kingdom!

TeacherDance reports that they've had snow in Denver, too, and she has an original poem on the slide into winter called "This Moment Fills Me."

Oh, no, look what we have in store (from NOAA--they like to shout):

LOW PRESSURE IS EXPECTED TO RAPIDLY INTENSIFY ALONG THE MID
ATLANTIC COAST ON SATURDAY AND MOVE VERY CLOSE TO CAPE COD
SATURDAY NIGHT...THEN NORTHEAST TO THE CANADIAN MARITIMES SUNDAY.
AT THIS TIME...THIS STORM LOOKS TO BRING ACCUMULATING SNOW TO
MUCH OF MAINE AND NEW HAMPSHIRE...WITH THE BULK OF THE SNOW
FALLING SATURDAY NIGHT.

Maria Horvath brings us a lovely painting of Penelope and lines from the "Odyssey." By the way, Maria posts poetry every day, so visit her blog often!

Katya Czaja has another Robert Frost poem for us, "Now Close the Windows." She also said, "On Wednesday, migrating bluebirds hopped among the last few golden leaves of my sugar maple." I have bird envy--I've only seen a handful of bluebirds in my lifetime (and I'm, as my mother used to say, "no spring chicken.")

Joining in on the Halloween fun is Martha Calderaro with an awesome jack-o-lantern poem. Glad you're back to Poetry Friday!

Sara Lewis Holmes has a video clip of Alison Krauss singing "Ghost in the House." It'll send sad shivers down your back!

From Haiti, Ruth sends us a tantalizing portion of "Machines" by Michael Donaghy. Enjoy your upcoming days off, Ruth!

My buddy Janet of The Write Sisters, has a poem about a costume party that I'm glad I wasn't invited to! It's "All Souls" by Michael Collier.

Steven Withrow is interviewed at Kirkus Reviews where he spreads the news about Poetry Advocates for Children and Young Adults. If you haven't joined the group, please do--we'll wait for you, click here or on the little green bird icon on the right-hand side of this page.

We're introduced, by Karen Edmisten, to a book called The Tomb of the Boy King. Karen says, it's a "poetic version of the discovery of King Tut's tomb." That should be interesting! Wait--I just looked it up in my library's catalog and we own it! How did I miss it?

At Teaching Authors, JoAnn Early Macken offers us an original entitled, "The Trick to Getting Published." A simple trick, but you have to learn it the hard way!

Kayroo at BooksYALove recommends the novel-in-verse Karma by Cathy Ostlere. Looks like plenty for discussion in a YA book group with this novel--cultural and ethnic differences, political history, etc.

Paper Tigers has a great quote by Gillian Clarke, "Haunting is all about imagination, and the best imaginers are poets and children." Clarke is the author of The Whispering Room: Haunted Poems, which is shared today by Sally.

One more link before I head off for a little lunch with friends: Liz Scanlon is all about birds today with her photo of a gazillion of them on telephone wires (a touch of Hitchcock), and her links to poems by Robert Frost and Charles Bukowski. For all you bird and poetry lovers, I'd like to suggest that you look for Bright Wings: An Illustrated Anthology of Poems about Birds, edited by Billy Collins (Columbia U. Press, 2010).

I'm back, sorry I took so long. To continue, more Halloween treats await at Wild Rose Reader where Elaine reviews Hallowilloween: Nefarious Silliness by Calef Brown. Don't you love that word, nefarious? Elaine also has several other Halloween poems and books to recommend.

Amanda at The Writer's Life gives us a look at her Poetry Friday. Phew, I'm exhausted just reading it! No wonder she didn't get her original poem completed in time to post! That's okay, she shared a poem by Naomi Stroud Simmons, "Without Reservations." The last two lines should make you grin.

Lorie Ann Grover, at Readertotz, previews North by Nick Dowson, due in January. It's nonfiction in poetry form. And, at On Point she has an original small poem accompanied by a spider-topped skull!

Did Charles Gigna post so early last night because he was headed to Bangkok today? If so, Father Goose must have a jet-powered Halloween broomstick! Read an interview here.

Okay, I'm going to quote David Elzey directly for this description: "i'm in this week with a true story of the abraham lincoln coconut vampire turtle...cake. crazy, but true." It's all at fomograms.

At All about Books, Janet S. introduces a title I haven't seen before, Holiday Stew: A Kids Portion of Holiday and Seasonal Poems by Jenny Whitehead.

Donna has a new old house in Maine! At Mainely Write, her original poem, "The House with the Wrinkled Wall," tells of the house's make-over, and from the photo, that make-over comes not a minute too soon!