Tuesday, October 06, 2009

Elbow Month

October is an elbow of a month:
a change of season, odd articulation
angled like a leafless branch against
a sky from which the sun retreats. A hinge
between two quarters of the year's bright rim,
a bend that hides the road ahead from view.
A joint that aches with flex and pressure-change,
a meditation on exceeded reach.

Goosebumps bristle on my forearms, bare
to warmthless afternoon and iron evening.
Heavy sweaters hang in closets, waiting
to be summoned from their summer's rest.
The harvest moon above an empty field
gilds stubble with a hint of early frost.

--for Miss Rumphius' October prompt and Read Write Poem's mini-challenge

Collection available! Knocking from Inside

8 comments:

Julie Jordan Scott said...

How lush this poem is, love the imagery of October as an elbow, a hinge... your observation will definitely stick with me.

Anonymous said...

Yes, lush, is an apt description. And so abundant with unexpected images (elbow of a month, a bend that hides the road ahead, iron evening - just for some) and the sense and new meanings they invoke. Very rich upon the ear.

Jane Penland Hoover said...

I really like the sensation this evokes of hanging in aniticipation of what is coming. Beautiful work.

Mark said...

I so love this. Maybe because I so love October and have for years. So many wonderful things to see and smell in October...

Your idea of it as a hinge is a good one.

poefusion said...

another great poem Tiel. so many beautiful images. love those last lines. have a great night.

Deb said...

A yes from here, too; "odd articulation" is a wonderful beginning, deftly followed.

Anonymous said...

I love the first half. It really rings in my arthritic october-loving joints.

Anonymous said...

months as "elbows" and "hinges" -- great metaphors!