Friday, October 3, 2008

Poetry Friday: Autumn Acrostics


Here are four autumn acrostics I wrote for Tricia’s Monday Poetry Stretch at The Miss Rumphius Effect. You will find the Poetry Stretch Results here.


AUTUMN ACROSTICS
by
Elaine Magliaro

Animals get ready for winter--slip
Under stones, hide in hollow logs, bury
Themselves in pond bottoms. The
Underlife of leaves bursts forth in a
Myriad of colors and they dazzle like jewels on a
Necklace of trees.





Must fly south
Into the sun…must
Get going…before Mother Nature
Raises her icy hands
And frosts
This world
In white. Follow me
On the wing to a land that does
Not know the chill of winter




Like baby birds
Eager to test their wings
A scarlet flock takes flight in a silent
Valediction to summer.
Earthbound, they

Settle into autumn, curl up from the cold.




Crimson and gold, pumpkin
Orange, lemon yellow, burnt sienna...
Leaves don their autumn finery in
October to celebrate the season.
Restless breezes set them dancing,
Swirling through air like a rainbow of dervishes




At Blue Rose Girls, I have a poem by Judith Harris entitled Gathering Leaves in Grade School and three of my original autumn poems that were previously posted at Wild Rose Reader.

This week’s Poetry Friday Roundup is at Two Writing Teachers.

15 comments:

Kelly Polark said...

Beautiful poems on a crisp fall day!

Elaine Magliaro said...

Thanks, Kelly! I love autumn. It's my favorite season.

Andromeda Jazmon said...

Wonderful autumn acrostics! You've gotten me in the mood for those changes...

Elaine Magliaro said...

Cloudscome,

Autumn has arrived here--but not many leaves have changed color yet.

Linda said...

Great acrostics! You've got me in the mood for autumn. The temps feel like it, but I wish the trees would turn!

Elaine Magliaro said...

Thanks, Linda! I'm ready, too, to see some color on the trees.

Jules at 7-Imp said...

Those are great! The notion of writing an acrostic makes my brain hurt. Those are well-done.

Vivian Mahoney said...

Oh! I love your AUTUMN poem! Beautiful!

Elaine Magliaro said...

Jules and Vivian,

Thanks! I wasn't a particular fan of acrostics until several years ago. I guess so many of the acrostics that I had read didn't sound like poetry to me--just a list of words.

I do like the book of acrostic poems SILVER SEEDS, which was written by Paul Paolilli & Dan Brewer. Has either of you read it?

Karen said...

Those are really neat!

tanita✿davis said...

I'm still re-reading these -- the phrase "the underlife of leaves" just really struck me, and I love the idea of "a land that does not know the chill of winter." How we all wish we could go there -- at least briefly! It sounds heavenly.

I LOVE the LEAVES one the very best -- the scarlet flock is gorgeous. You really do these SO well!

Elaine Magliaro said...

Thanks, Karen.

Tadmack,

I really appreciate your specific comments on my acrostics. I like to know what readers think about my poetry. It's always good to get feedback. Although I have a couple of trusted friends who critique my work, we don't get together often enough.

Yat-Yee said...

These are so evocative and warm and lovely. You just decided to do some acrostics and sat down to write them? Wow! That's why some of us are poets and others of us...love poetry.

Anonymous said...

I love acrostics!

The
Underlife of leaves bursts forth in a
Myriad of colors and they dazzle like jewels on a
Necklace of trees.

That's stunning!

Elaine Magliaro said...

Yat-Yee,

I had a version of AUTUMN in one of my writing journals. I think the first two drafts were written more than five years ago. I think I might have been inspired to participate in Tricia's Poetry Stretch becasue I love autumn!


Laura,

Thanks. I like acrostics much better now than I did years ago. I think a writer can do a lot with the form if she puts her mind to it.