other occasions

so much depending

red outside
at last
plus nearer the back window

late fall
but fall

scratching
speaking to the season
as
colors from cold
should

and if
there’s no relation
then
it’s all anticipation
falling
as it were
into each one’s magic

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photo by Natalia Fogarty on Unsplash

on the way

All Souls

El Día de los Muertos
parades
so much energy
by skulls for decoration
costuming
with many made by sugar
for the rite of
having meals with the dead
that will
happen in cemeteries with warm light
by night and everything set out
with
the living family
attending

assured that those who’ve gone before
are still close by
if
also on their journey

a paradox of pleasure
more straightforward in
affection
as affection’s
due
and shall the families appreciate
the veil
of ritual and lore
and love by incarnation of
the ways we know
each other
here
and there while all of us
are on the way

and so the three days
go
while I don’t know who really counts
them all
together
preparing for each day and finding
new energy in each

that
might be by candy
all the carbohydrates
though
more so by
meaning of the ages
shared so often
simply and complexly
close
to home

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photo by Edgar Cavazos on Unsplash

Haskell Library
across fair-access borders
‘til government’s ban

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Built intentionally on the border between Derby Line, Vermont, and Stanstead, Quebec, this Victorian landmark stands as a monument to friendship between the United States and Canada. This library is a place where families, neighbors, and students have come together for generations to learn, read, and share a civic life rooted in trust, curiosity, and peace.
That legacy ended this week.

EveryLibrary

I had read a while before about this phenomenon, a community library that traversed borders between the nations. Now the Canadians have been told they may not use the library on the USA side.
And I suppose haiku aren’t for politicking.

photo by Shunya Koide on Unsplash
(and in the back, a person in attendance in the center)

prelude in orange and black

so Hallowe’en
and if you have it
I hope
this is
a pleasant Hallowe’en for you

eve of All Saints the name

even thrilling for the children

thinking of
the rush of running through the cold night
looking through
and
breathing through a mask
bearing a burden
of which I could hardly
be
aware

and that was Hallowe’en for me
as a child
with
The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
intersticed with commercials
for Dolly Madison
doughnuts

and there were other things
I guess

cider
decorations here and there
bats and cats
and such

stories in school
or on TV

oh
pumpkin-carving and then
the lights inside
that signaled to whatever spirits
we were here

but
it was the running through the night
cold
the mask
sensations that I had no other night
or day

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photo by Zach Lisko on Unsplash

a visit from Mister Poe

who knows
and
what if everyone should know

I’ve only confessed to God
and so might not bear
the forgiveness
from people
and should they bear scorn in their eyes
and
their subtle rejections
even as detectives
met
happily
while the perpetrator of the crime
heard his own heart
though was
certain it beat from his victim
within the floorboards
beneath them all

and could he not bear a moment longer
unopened in himself
and so cried
confessing
all by terror as the means
rather
than a priestly person

so the ghost of the one he killed
pressed on him
worse than a would-be pardoner’s
supplication

or the black
cat
who wailed behind the wall
in this case
supplanting by revealing
sin
and murder

and so these stories go
of exposure should
the sinner
try to hide
from the world whose implication
must
be to expose

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for Hallowe’en and other Gothic times

photo by Sonny Mauricio on Unsplash

sabbath call

and Sunday is for God to rest
or how you count
could be
another day

the seventh
and I just heard it might be only once
for God
after creating
and
thus also
a model for the rest of us
once here to take that seventh day
ourselves and by directive
slowly
breathe
and without doubt
to
rest

and
well
I hope it’s God and us who rest
each time
since creating is a constant
and should not the breath of God
go easy for God
too
at
times
say
once a week

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photo by Frankie Cordoba on Unsplash


four more-or-less October poems (three poems narrative while one verse plaintive)


who takes the autumn time

fall
and I’m not ready
too cold too
fast
so
where were the colors
coming over weeks
as hot moved to cool
then to cold only at night
for
a while
yet
look at me
hear me
complaining
while
it was in the eighties well into
October with random
reason
or Earth turning
for all the heat returning
but frankly
the trees look like veterans
of the wasted early
season
green leaves with withered edges
an attempt at red now brown
meaning
late fall by climate change
and should we peak in wizened fall
from trees worn out by
normal waiting
for
the riotous return
and
it isn’t look
of course
alone
but touch the cooler wind
to smell the gradual passing
to
think on the mortality
but now breaking cycles
of the planetary model rest
to sleep under
into blade risings
with
spring
then who took the time of fall
MidAtlantic
everywhere and that would mean
south
what should be the verdant
growing time


ambassadorial

the orange cat
who
came to say hello then
walk right
in

to look for corners good for
rubbing faces
with new levels
chair
and stool
and bed
on which to leap
as if after
to plant a catly explorer’s
flag

to chirp and then
to cry a
little
signaling the visit done
and for us to go upstairs

to find
the unlocked door through
which
this pumpkin neighbor
had escaped and has come down
to call

a sibling face behind the door
of timider variety

now
waiting for the rascal-story


men’s Bible study

thought
I’d give a try

there were three plus
the proviso that
where
two or more are gathered

one
man I knew
the other not so much
but
we went on together through
the video
and readings
with
discussions on the way

and then
requests for prayer

and I asked for
my niece
and abashedly then
for
myself

and
by the way
we had gelato at the start
while
I heard tales of Italy
from two so much more traveled
than myself
so
I could learn
because they’re nothing like
well
like being there



to insurance companies

thanks
to your insurance
I’m suffering
treatments have been identified
by experts
you won’t let me have
the help

I know I’m just one person
whose numbers move through your
machine
so easy to ignore
while you gear your promotions
through yourselves

over my health

but
goodness
I wish I could feel better
from the summer’s infections
it being fall
now

and
you know
I could feel improved
but
you won’t let me


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photo by Mauro Lima on Unsplash