Welcome to Poetry Friday! This is my first time hosting and have looked forward to it. I’ve been away from my blog for month and my thoughts have been with teachers who are returning to their students.
There are madmen running the country but still I managed to write. Being away from my blog has confirmed what I knew, that being part of this group inspires me to write and learn.
I have added Mister Linky to my blog so I hope he does his job. Fingers crossed. If he doesn’t, just place your address in the comments section.
Seasons are changing, so a few photos to celebrate Fall. In Upstate New York, it’s a time of contrasts. Lots of gold, yellow and red on my walks. Even pink.
And Halloween is almost here. I have to figure out how I will greet trick or treaters this year when they come to my door. My pumpkin door hanging and my little scarecrow have returned:
It struck me that the sky yesterday was showing a concern for others:
There have been many quiet, lovely mornings this summer, and I wish somehow I could keep them with me, freeze a moment, make it last. Maybe because I am apprehensive of the solitude that will come with frigid weather, I treasured each summer and fall moment. That’s what inspired this short poem.
AT EIGHT O'CLOCK I wish for time to slow and stop on a Thursday morning at eight o’clock when rays of sunshine ignite chartreuse trees, and maple leaves wave their hands in the breeze, while cardinals chattering on perches, be. For this singular moment each second will steal, as the day rolls on like a movie reel. © Janice Scully 2020
I’ll end with a quote that seems relevant, by nineteenth century writer Thomas Carlyle, about what I might be listening for in quiet moments. I discovered the quote in a wonderful book, The Discovery of Poetry by Frances Mayes, who is a poetry professor and author of Under the Tuscan Sun.
All deep things are Song. It seems somehow the very central essence of us, Song; as if all the rest were but wrappers and hulls! . . . See deep enough, and you see musically; the heart of Nature being everywhere music, if you can only reach it. Thomas Carlyle
Have a wonderful week and my best to you in your writing and in your classrooms.
What a lovely post! Enjoyed all the fall photos, your poem, and Carlyle’s quote — so beautiful. Halloween will be strange this year — if neighborhoods allow trick-or-treating, I imagine many will leave bowls of candy outside rather than open the door. Thanks so much for hosting; I like the movie reel in your poem — could we freeze frame fall? 🙂
*my PF link will go live at 6 a.m. Friday morning
Thanks for stopping by, Jama! I look forward to tomorrow morning.
Welcome to the hosting side of Poetry Friday, Janice – you welcomed us all with many lovely inspirations. (Love the idea of the sky wearing a mask!) Thank you for rounding up, and for the poetic respites and smile-inducing images. :0)
Lovely post, poems, and pics Janice, I’m not ready to say goodbye to fall yet, but our temps are getting mighty low tonight… “All deep things are Song,” what a deep line, and I like the connection with music–thanks for sharing Carlyle’s quote and for hosting!
Hi, Janice. We’ve been walking a lot too and enjoying the autumn light igniting the trees, as you describe so beautifully in your poem.
I’m part of the Hop to It blog tour today — excited to share my poem from the book, and a fun monster craft to go with it.
A beautiful post, Janice. I’m so glad I (finally) made it back to Poetry Friday in time to read this. Thank-you. Loving your brooding sky, and your suspension of time at 8o’clock – and Thomas Carlyle’s wisdom is deeply moving. Thanks for hosting us.🙃
Love your autumn inspired photos and poetry. My mind was on autumn for this week’s post as well. Thank you for hosting!
Oh, love, love, love seeing photos of western NY in the Fall. There is no place on earth as beautiful. Thank you for sharing them and being contemplative about eight o’clock on a Thursday morning. I share your pause over leadership and am just hanging on for an election change. So glad you took a break and are back. This collection of bloggers has kept me writing many, many moments — especially in this pandemic.
Welcome to the hosting experience. It’s fun! And Mr Linky is doing all the right things 🙂
Your post is rich, and I especially liked your haiku about the clouds.
I am not sure at all about Halloween this year. Several children I know will not be going out so I need to decide what I will have ready for those who do. I love your “cloud mask” poem & the fall one, too. You’ve shown those perfect days we all love this time of year, Janice. And the quote, going in my journal! Thanks for sharing all and for hosting!
So much to appreciate in your return post Janice. The words and accompanying photographs of a Fall I so vividly recall from my time in New York. Your poem is quite evocative of our collective thoughts at this time in history and your Thomas Carlyle quote ties a fitting bow around your gift to us on this occasion. Thank you for hosting in this uplifting way.
Janice, it is wonderful to hear and see your viewpoints on Syracuse. Ah, autumn there is lovely. Thanks for filling my heart with thoughts of the season. I enjoyed your original poems, photos, and the beautiful quote.
Thanks for hosting! I’ll come back to read and properly comment tomorrow morning…after I sleep in!
Janice, I am loving the contrasts of the season, and your cheery Halloween decor… also the sky wearing a mask! Beautiful! That Carlyle quote is going in my notebook right now. Thank you! xo
I just got your book about nesting poems and I found it magical actually trying it myself. It brought the whole concept to life. What a great idea and a lovely book.
I love your mask-wearing sky haiku, Janice! I think many of us can relate to the brooding, weary attitude as we continue to do the right thing day after day while others do not. All in all, quite a lovely PF hosting debut! I don’t have a post today, so I linked to my post from Monday so that more folks can read Joy Harjo’s poignant prose poem.
Lovely! What a calm and welcoming post, Janice. I loved the fall photos, poem, musings, and quote! I’m part of the Blog Tour for HOP TO IT as well. Hope you can stop by! Thanks again for hosting!
Janice: Love your celebratory fall post and photos, as well as your poem with the light igniting the trees, the blaze of color you paint with your words. And the longing… I also have this Mayes book and LOVE it. I am working my way through it veerrrry slowly, savoring every word. Thank you for sharing such brightness and music today. 🙂
Janice, such beauty here today! I loved seeing all your fall colors (as well as your concern for others in wearing a mask. :)) Coincidentally, I’m reflecting on time today, too, with an Anne Porter poem.
I, too, have been trying to mindfully appreciate and be grateful for every summer and fall moment, knowing winter is coming, so I loved “At Eight O’Clock.”
And the Carlyle quote is the perfect touch and wrap-up. 🙂
Thank you for hosting!
What a beautiful post, Janice! Thank you for hosting us. I almost didn’t post this week because I wasn’t sure what to share and time almost ran away with me.
I like your poem about the sky wearing a mask. And it looks so beautiful where you are in Upstate New York. I always get grumbly this time of year here in Florida. I sure do miss proper fall weather. Thanks for hosting!
This is such a beautiful post. Thank you so much for reminding me that there’s so much to celebrate in our world. I appreciate your poem and that desire to freeze a lovely moment in time to cherish. I suppose they are actually all the sweeter because of their transient nature. Still…That Carlyle quote is a keeper for sure! Thanks for hosting.
Janice, Thank you so much for hosting! I love your poem, especially the lines about the trees and their colors, waving at us in the breeze! Thank you again. It looks like Mr. Linky is working! I am so thrilled that you were this week’s host! Take Care.
Thanks for sharing your lovely poems and images–and the quote, too. I always love the fall. We had our first hard frost last night, and today, while many of the plants had wilted, the trees were glorious! I did wish for time to slow and stop.
But I’ve been especially aware of the passing of time as my father passed away a week ago. He lived for 92 wonderful years–but I still wasn’t ready for that change. And yet I know it’s part of the turning of the wheel, just like these amazing fall days will turn to winter.
Thanks for hosting this week.
Thank you for hosting this week, Janice. Your fall photos are lovely, and your poem is infused with their beauty. I love the Carlyle quote and agree completely: “All deep things are Song.”
All the rest wrappers and hulls indeed. If only we could toss them all aside. Lovely photos and poem, Janice. Thank you for hosting :>)
My early morning reading has brought me to your blog, by way of another, and I am so grateful! I’m in Syracuse, teaching English for 19 years, and you have beautifully captured the incredibly precious time that comes with our all-too-short autumn. I, too, wish I could freeze the moments. Thank you for capturing a bit of what I love so deeply about our small space on this planet.
I love everything about your post, but my favorites are the sky in solidarity, wearing a mask, and the Carlyle quote (so true and thanks also for the book recommendation). Thanks again for hosting!
Thanks for hosting, Janice! I especially like the Carlyle quote: “the heart of Nature being
everywhere music, if you can only reach it” – yes! 🙂
Janice, thank you for hosting, and thank you for leading us along a scenic path to that last quote, which made me smile from deep: “as if all the rest were but wrappers and hulls.” My favorite line in your is similar:
“while cardinals chattering
on perches, be.”
Delightful.