There are simple pleasures in country things,
Hayrides and harvesting in the epoch of fall.
In the season when leaves fly with golden wings.
Porches where folks strum on guitar strings,
sharing iced tea and fond memories enthrall.
There are simple pleasures in country things.
Upon a fence, a tendrilled morning glory clings,
Purple blooms climbing on a white-washed wall.
In the season when leaves fly with golden wings
Feeling northerly winds this time of year brings.
Watching flocks fly south in answer to time's call.
There are simple pleasures in country things.
Swaying on hammocks or old wooden swings,
dancing a two-step and voices speaking in drawl.
In the season when leaves fly with golden wings.
Living a good life much richer than great kings,
and waiting for snow that nature cannot forestall.
There are simple pleasures in country things,
in the season when leaves fly with golden wings.
11/03/2022 ~ Third Person Villanelle Contest
Sponsored by L Milton Hankins
Fall
Crisp clear mornings
Afternoons warmed by the sun
Yellow mums and graceful sunflowers
Leaf piles full of fun
Apple cider and jack-o- lanterns
Little ghosts in shadows lurk
Hay bales and dried cornstalks
Put scarecrows out of work
Camp fires and haunted hayrides
Burnt marshmallows on long sticks
Squirrels scampering to hide acorns
Ripe apples to be picked
Smoke plumes from tall chimneys
Amber logs in fireplaces glow
Trees shed their colorful outfits
North winds begin to blow
Sidewalks glisten with ice crystals
frosty-blankets spread across lawns
Birds gather at neighborhood feeders
sleepy bears begin to yawn
Mother Nature gives her signal
As she paints the sunsets red
Time for moon and starlit nights
To put the earth to bed
As infrequent a visitor
hayrides through haunted woods are
to the segregate’s prison of elm and oak
is the sliver of Ray-ban hope
I used to count on
for steady supplies of vegetation
on my salad plate,
overgrown now with yellow seed
blossoming dollops of strawberry preservative.
One never thinks that dawns…
Crystal clear and golden
Are not forever
…When one is young…
That Summer nights and full moons
Hayrides and balmy Junes
All come with an expiration date
…When one is young…
That fair skin and youth are a given
And all words are truth
And Summers last forever
…When one is young…
That the touch of a lover’s hand
Is bliss beyond compare
And stardust Paints the nighttime air
…when one is young…
One never thinks beyond one’s self
That youth shall soon rest upon the shelf
And different songs be sung…
Tho’ mem’ries will be all we have
To remind us of…the time
…when we were young…
22 lines
Happy Halloween
Ghosts
Ghouls
Goblins
Spirits
Wines
Pumpkins and their spices
Jackolaterns and their flickering candles lights
Scarecrows
Spiders and their webs
Skulls
Bats
Rats
Black Cats
Crows
Skeletons
Undead
Witches their spells and witchcraft
Warlocks their spells and witchcraft
Necromancers dead-talking
Divinations
Ancestors
Rituals
Rites
Vampires
Werewolves
Mummies
Shapeshifters
Gargoyles
Bogeymen
Monsters
Creatures
Creepy Crawlers
Grim Reapers
Devils
Cemeteries
Tombstones
Crosses
pentagrams
pentacles
tricks or treats
truths or dares
haunted houses
haunted hayrides
Netherworlds
Paranormal
Macabre
Weird
Ghastly
Gorey
Creepy
Cute
Nerdy
Sexy
costumes
Food
Harvest
Candy
Festivities
Beautiful Decay of Nature
Full Moons
Thinnest line between our world and the spiritual realm, which allows beings to crossover
Myths
Legends
Superstitions
Songs
Poems
Books
Death Symbolism
Evil symbolism
Cool Weather
Foggy Bogs
Horrors
Terrors
Scares
Screams
Gothic Elements
Samhain and Day of the Dead Origins
Worshippers
Corporatism and
Consumerism both make money off it and ruin it!
I have relatives all over the USA, in one state or another.
Thanks to my randy great-grandparents who could not keep their hands off each other.
They had eighteen children, sometimes in two’s, and most of their children had ten.
Eight was considered a failure to the family, it truly had to be at least ten, back then.
Their tiny Iowa farmhouse was so ridiculously small, it was crazy.
But they raised nine fine sons, and nine ambitious daughters, and none of them was lazy.
We had our family reunions on an extensively long flatbed truck.
We went on hayrides, and we played with twenty-something cousins in the muck.
I have relatives all over the USA, in one state or another.
Thanks to my randy great-grandparents who could not keep their hands off each other.
Halloween birthdays compare to no other
Preparations begin at the end of summer
Leaves change color, a chill is in the air
Outdoor decorations appear everywhere
Talk of ghosts, goblins and big black cats
Songs about monsters dancing ‘The Mash’
Porch Jack-O-Lanterns grin from ear-to-ear
October 31st every town any given year
Bobbing for apples at Halloween parties
Hayrides to haunted houses to hear scary stories
Witches cast spells on those superstitious
Eating cake, opening presents, all the best wishes
Shadows and full moons... spooky lights
Costumes and candy on ‘Trick-or-Treat’ night
Great celebrations in many fun ways
Halloween is the best time for birthdays
Written October 23, 2015
February-10, 2016 - Birthday Party Contest
By Nayda Ivette Negron
Third Place
November 4, 2015 - Birthday Party Contest
By Kelly Deschler
Second Place
Slowly pulsing through glittered haze
Under cloudscape, her locks blow wild
Misty the blushed roses, ablaze
Moon of summer, warmth of hayrides
Enchanting peach fragrance of the night
Reveal your glory, dear chromed fay,
My eyes chase a Selene’s delight
Over hills wrapped in flamed crochet.
Oh, sleep denies a lullaby
No matter how you beam, goodbye!
Francine Roberts' Summer Acrostic Contest
by nette onclaud
BEDTIME MAGIC
Sprawled under nightscape of galaxy bright
Tiny sequins pulse on blaze of luster,
A beaded stars nova bursts on flight
Into a full-blown montage, the lawns flicker
Reams of tales climb on visions lit by dappled view
While children’s breaths gleam of fantasy hayrides,
And fairies jut out from chapters to touch the hue
Yearning to blend into a ladder that divides
The seashore from a skyline blushing streams;
On one unmentionable lightness of firework glory
Tinseled rhinestones kindle hopes of angelic dreams,
Holding a cachet of flowered moon for bedtime story
Enchanted, their mother blows a peppermint kiss
Staring at gems waltzing high up on glittered air,
Threads of her locks meshed by twinkles of lullaby bliss
As graceful nebulae cuddle sweetened hours, ever fair
Rounding her infants, wonders of night magic sigh
Stars radiant dip into eyes; winking good night, goodbye!
©
** *
For Gautami Phookan's Sweetest Touches Of Verse
By nette onclaud
I like baseball, apple pie
And my mamma too
Going to the park
And going to the zoo
Hayrides and waterslides
Just to name a few
Doing all the things I like
And doing something new
I like going out on Friday
To dance the night away
Then I like to sleep late
On a Saturday
Sunday morning go to church
Kneel down and pray
And thank the Lord that we are living
In the USA
Rockman (Randy)
whimsical lass in a calico dress
holding hat on head
of a bob-cut tress
looking for one daisy in
a autum wheat field
.....and finding instead
an old wagon wheel
tom-boy/lady in between
hayrides and romance....
just looking for fun
she is a halloween queen
lovely lady in a long white dress
with slender white fingers
delicately holding a orchid
bouquet...
she looks at her love
with his strong lean face
fine old woman
in a blue cashmere......
holding her dreams
against the tick of the
clock
stooped old granny
watching for him
lighting a kerosine
lamp .....
she
keeps supper warm
on his t.v. platter.
janetta