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.

Whip Cream

Mix the cream.
Stir the cream.
Beat it till it's high.
Spoon it on the pumpkin
for Thanksgiving pie.

    Does your family have special foods they eat for Thanksgiving?  Can you write a cooking poem today that tells how to make  your favorite food?

    Our wind is still blowing and today I noticed that the wind made the top feathers on the quail bob even more than usual as the birds walked past my window.  I know there is a poem in there, but it needs to percolate.  What is one thing you have noticed today?  Have fun writing.

THE DAY AFTER

I ate turkey,
I ate yams,
I ate cranberries,
biscuits and jams.

I ate stuffing,
pumpkin and apple pies
I'm stuffed all the way
up to my eyes.

I ate so much
on Thanksgiving Day.
I'm starting a diet
as of today.


    Did you have a good Thanksgiving?  There is a lot to be thankful for, isn't there?  I hope you have a great weekend writing.

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.

Halloween Haiku

October's full moon

scarey Halloween shadows 

shake on pumpkin vines

     Can you try writing your own haiku today?  Have fun.

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

I'm out in the pumpkin patch

and everything is fine.

I'm looking for a pumpkin,

one to carve as mine.

I'm looking for a ripe one

to sit flat on the ground,

one that is bright and orange

that thumps with hallow sound.

I thought I found a perfect one

to carve up for this gig.

The one I picked I can not lift

because it is too big.

      Do you carve a Halloween pumpkin?  What do you look for in selecting your pumpkin?  Do you go to a pumpkin patch to get your pumpkin or do you get it from the store?  Can you write a poem about finding your special pumpkin?  Or write about one special pumpkin.

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.