MY JACK-O-LANTERN

I picked my pumpkin.
It's big.
It's round.
I'll make it
a jack-o-lantern
as soon as I
can lift it
up from
the ground.

Oh, my.  I can't believe Halloween is only a couple of days away.  I've been so busy with other things I have done nothing to get ready. 
What are you doing to get ready for Halloween?  Have you carved a pumpkin?  Do you have a costume?  Can you try writing your own Halloween poem?  Have fun.

GUESS WHO?

Who is out on Halloween night

riding a broom in the pale moon light?

Who sits behind on the witch's broom

and holds on tight with every ZOOM?

Who purrs a loud kitty keen,

to wish us all

HAPPY HALLOWEEN.



    Now, I'm going to try this poem with an echo.  Let's see if it will work?  This way, it becomes a poem for two voices.  The echo is a repeat by students, and everyone joins in on the last line.
Who is out on Halloween night
                                               on Halloween night

riding a broom in the pale moon light?
                                              in the pale moon light?

Who sits behind on the witch's broom
                                              on the witch's broom

and holds on tight with every ZOOM?
                                              with every ZOOM?

Who purrs a loud kitty keen,
                                             a loud kitty keen

to wish us all

HAPPY HALLOWEEN.

     I hope you have a great Halloween.  Today's poem is a riddle poem.  Can you write your own riddles for some of the things Halloween?  My first thought was a jack-o-lantern.

Do not think
it is hog wash.
Before he changed
he was an orange squash.  

   I had to use my rhyming dictionary for that one.  There aren't a lot a great words to rhyme with squash.  Hey, just have fun.  We're not trying for Shakespearean sonnets here.  Enjoy your holiday and make poetry a part of it.

LONG TAILED BUSH LIZARD

A long tailed bush lizard
is resting in the sun.
He's waiting for Halloween,
knows it is fun.

Running in and out 
of your jack-o-lantern.
You might call him
a little rapscallion.

Eating flies and gnats
and pumpkin too.
He wishes a Happy Halloween
to me and you.

    What does your dog or cat think about Halloween?  Will your pet wear a costume?  If you had a pet animal how would you dress her for Halloween?  Can you write a poem about that?

Elizabeth, an elephant
wants to dance
for Halloween.
She needs
the biggest tutu
I've ever seen.

When she trick-or-treats
she carries a big sack.
And if you don't feed her
she'll never come back. 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

1 Pumpkin, a jack-o-lantern to make.

2 Sugar cookies in the oven to bake.

3 Owls hooting WHO-WHO-WHO.

4 Ghosts prowling to shout BOO!

5 Bats circle with their wings.

6 Cats on the fence posts howling-sing.

7 Costumed children ask for a treat

    and wish Happy Halloween

       to all they meet. 

     Halloween is a fun holiday where we get to dress up and pretend to be someone, something or somebody else.  Will you go trick-or-treating?  Do you have a costume yet?  Have you decided what you will be this year?  Your challenge for today is to try writing your own Halloween poem about your costume.  Have fun.

Jack-o-lantern

carving a pumpkin

scooping out the seeds inside

a happy face glows

  Did you ask yourself if the glowing face was the jack-o-lantern or the carver?

Did you have fun carving a pumpkin for Halloween?  Can you write your own poem about carving a pumpkin? 

Yesterday, at No River Water , Renee LaTulippe interviewed the editors of THE POETRY FRIDAY ANTHOLOGY, Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong and is having a poet-a-palooza with videos of four poets from the anthology reading their poems.

Five Bats Go Flying

Five bats flying
one Halloween night
they zipped and zoomed
they flew to the moon
as they took flight.

"I think I see something,"
said the first bat.
"Oh yes," said the four,
"on a broom, that's the cat."

"I see something."
said the second bat.
"Down in that ditch."
"Oh yes," said the four,
"that is a witch."

"Eeeeee," said the third bat.
"Look at what I see."
"Oh yes," said the four.
"A skeleton hangs in that tree."

"Eeeeek!" said the fourth bat.
"Is that a phantom?"
"No," said the four.
"It's a jack-o-lantern."

"Come," said the fifth bat.
"I know what we should do,
we'll fly in front of the moon
and sing
OOO-ooo-OOO."

"Yes,"said the four bats,
"that's what we should do,
we'll fly to the moon singing
OOO-ooo-OOO-ooo-OOO!"


     Sorry, I'm late today.  I've been having too much fun playing with this poem and the art work to go with it.  What I really want to do and will do soon is re-cast this poem as a poem for five voices--or as a mini-play/poem with one voice for each of the bats, a narrator and the chorus for the group of bats.
    Anyway, now it is your turn.  Can you write a poem about a bat today?  This is a good poem to try in rhyme since the "at" family of rhyming words is pretty big with lots of possibilities.  What ever you do, have fun today.  I'm so glad you stopped by. Thank you for coming to my poetry playground.

GOOD BYE JACK-O-LANTERN

When you carve

your jack-o-lantern

make a face

full of fright.

Do not set it

on the porch steps

and then leave

it over-night.

The javelinas

run by rooting

and they might

take out a bite.

Among themselves

they start fighting.

No more pumpkin

it's gone from sight.

Good bye, Jack-o-lantern.

       Where I live we can't leave pumpkins outside because the javelinas love to eat them.  I guess it must taste like candy to them.  Are there critters in your part of the world that would eat your jack-o-lantern?  OK, so your challenge for today is to write a poem titled, Who Has Been Eating my Pumpkin?  There are lots of possibilities--bugs, worms, birds, even Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater.  (Could the apple in the Garden of Eden have been a pumpkin?)  Have fun deciding whose voice you'll use for this poem.

MY PUMPKIN

Round,
     plump,
thump, thump, thump.

Listen, carefully
     to the sound
          of humming--
thrum, thrum, thrum.

The face on my jack-o-lantern
is a scarey sight,
as he sits on the porch step humming
all of this Halloween night.

He chortles;
     he giggles;
          he gives us a fright!
He seems to love
         HALLOWEEN NIGHT.


      Do you carve a pumpkin for Halloween?  Your challenge for today is to write a poem about picking out your pumpkin or choosing the face to carve on a pumpkin.  Or, if you'd like, write about what happens when the pumpkins get together.  Hope you have some hoooooowwwwwwling fun with this challenge.