Welcome to Poetry Friday, hosted right here today!
(Someone mentioned they had trouble finding the link to the widget. It’s way down at the bottom of the page, but also HERE for posting links and reading.)
It was exactly a year ago that I hosted the Poetry Camp Edition of Poetry Friday. It’s hard to believe that a whole year has gone by since that fun Poetry Camp day in Bellingham (October 1, 2016). That one-year anniversary, combined with the fact that this is the Thanksgiving weekend in Canada (second Monday of October) gives my hosting Poetry Friday today a meant-to-be feeling.
One of the things my husband and I especially enjoyed about our visit to Bellingham a year ago was walks along the Taylor Avenue Dock with coffee at Woods. There we ordered Cream Cheese Pumpkin Loaves to go with our coffee. Yum! When I got home, I tried to duplicate those tasty mini-loaves but never got them quite so rich and creamy.
That Bellingham memory plus the fact that it’s Thanksgiving in Canada this weekend has brought pumpkins to mind. So today, a little ode to pumpkins for my own Poetry Friday offering.
To Pumpkin
You kept the new world’s
hungry pioneers and pilgrims alive
with your soft sweet flesh
and nutty seeds,
their feet warm with your rind
woven into mats,
their parties and celebrations
fueled by your beer.
But I am not stuck in the past
for you, orange gourd of October,
are still the icon of autumn
visiting our fall menus with spicy milkshakes
fragrant muffins, scones, and pies
infusing grainy loaves with gold
burnishing soups and stews,
ever the magnet of the latté lineup.
We see ourselves
in your well-formed circle
and with cold sharp blades
carve for you vacant eyes,
a triangle nose, a toothy grin
then plant within the fire of life
for one secret night
only to find your precious meat
shattered, your pulp a slurry
on a November sidewalk.
Thank you, large melon
for your stubby steadfastness
through famine to plenty,
your generosity from yellow blossom
to creamy flesh,
your patience with us
as we bake and boil
microwave and sauté
carve and create
you and your orange generation,
most tasty and handsome denizens
of the market’s harvest bin
and the farmer’s freckled patch.
© 2017 by Violet Nesdoly (All rights reserved)
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Please add your link to the Mister Linky widget and let the pumpkin party continue!
Violet Nesdoly 
Thank you for kicking us off with some pumpkin love this October, Violet! I love the phrase, “the farmer’s freckled patch.”
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Oh, Violet….what a lovely poem and so full of haiku possibilities! I must come back and explore. That’s the fun I’ve been having this week….finding haiku in other text. The line that really gets me is, “I’m stuck in the past”. So many memories of Thanksgiving and pumpkins. Beautiful!
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I agree. I think this might be a springboard for a found poem soon.
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I know lots of folks like to malign the poor pumpkin for lack of taste and awkward cooking issues – but i love it, and your poem rang true for me. Happy Thanksgiving, Violet! My link goes live shortly after midnight.
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Love the poem (and all the yummy food references especially)! Pumpkins are indeed the icon of autumn, the best season of all. 🙂
Happy Thanksgiving to you, and thanks for hosting this week!
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Yummy! I love pumpkin flavored everything this time of year, so your poem is right on target for me. Love that “farmer’s freckled patch.” That is our garden this year.
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Oh, Violet, that is one of my favorite pumpkin poems ever! You’ve captured its whole life history, according to humans… :0) Also, LOVE the photo from Bellingham – what a glorious weekend. My hubby and I took the same walk and wound up in that wonderful coffee shop, too – even took back a couple of gifts for our grown kids from there. Thanks for sharing and for rounding up today. (My post has some pumpkin spice thrown in, too.) Happy October!
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Violet,
Thank you for the happy memories of Poetry Camp. That was a magical weekend. Oh how I miss my fellow children’s poets. Great pumpkin poem. Well done. I enjoyed the reading.
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Violet ~ what a full meal you’ve created, from the “orange generation”. I love that phrase. This poem is, as Robyn says, the whole life history of pumpkins and humans, artfully told.
And oh, what a weekend that was! Vibrant…like your poem.
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P.S: My interview with Denise Doyen about her newest PB, THE POMEGRANATE WITCH, (“Luscious rhymes and an atmospheric eeriness immerse readers in a neighborhood battle.”
—Publishers Weekly…starred review) goes live Friday morning. ❤
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Quite obviously I need a few lessons in how to pumpkin! Rinds into mats? Beer? Spicy milkshakes? Latté??? I’m not convinced by all of those combinations, since I have tasted pumpkin pie, and that was pushing the bounds of credibility for my tastebuds…But roast! Soups. Loaves. Scones. Yum. Yum. YUM! 🙂
The funny thing is, pumpkin always made me gag – until I spent 6wks in America as a teenager, and after all the sweet foods (Donuts for breakfast?!?) I just wanted to pump my stomach and eat … mashed pumpkin! My mum (and I) couldn’t believe it. And I’ve loved it ever since. 🙂
Thanks for hosting, Violet. There will for sure & certain be pumpkin on the menu here tonight.
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Thanks for hosting this week, Violet. The last stanza of your poem reads like an ode! “Stubby steadfastness” is such a great phrase.
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Just an hour ago I found a recipe for pumpkin apple doggie treats, which looked to be really easy and sure to appeal to my grand-dog. Then, I found your “infusing grainy loaves with gold,” and now I’m craving pumpkin! It’s going to be a pumpkin weekend I predict! Happy Thanksgiving!
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Happy Thanksgiving, Violet! Your poem just transported me from Florida’s lingering summer into an autumn mood with all the trimmings. Love that “farmer’s freckled patch”… kind of like the cinnamon on my latte. 🙂 Thanks for hosting this week!
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I didn’t know pumpkin rinds were woven into mats! Whoa. How fun to stuff your pumpkin poem with such juicy facts. Thank you for this ode and for hosting!
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Thank you, Violet!! I will be back to read your poem and the other goodies tomorrow!
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Wonderful ode to an adored gourd. Thanks for hosting!
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Thank you for hosting Violet and for sharing Your scrumptious Ode to pumpkins. Celebration of everyday objects via odes is something to which we all owe gratitude to Pablo Neruda. You have maintained the tradition with much honour Violet.
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Ah, Pablo Neruda… would you believe, Alan, that I bought a book of Neruda poems (Kindle download) just for his odes before writing this. I am so flattered that you even mentioned him in connection to this humble pumpkin piece. His Ode to Maize totally inspired me!
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You’ve included all the lovely parts of the pumpkin, including history! I do love “stubby steadfastness”. I smile each fall when I hear friends celebrating that Starbucks is back with their pumpkin spice lattes. The pumpkin really has entered our lives in many ways, including art! Thanks for hosting Violet!
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Delicious poem Violet, historically and for our palates. I’m glad there are many of us who still appreciate these guards and value them as the “the icon of autumn,” long may they cherish that place, thanks!
I love the picture of the house/chug boat. Looks like a wonderful weekend.
Thanks too for hosting the Poetry Friday roundup.
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Hi Violet! Your poem brought me right back! Living in Florida, the seasons and holidays go by in a flash because we have no seasonal markers here. How I miss the smell of autumn leaves and my grandmother’s pumpkin pie’s cooling on the porch! THank you!
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Happy Thanksgiving! You have given us lots about pumpkins for which to be thankful! I am particularly taken by the giving of the fire of life to our carved pumpkins. I’ll never look at them the same way!
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Dear Violet, I love this ode to pumpkin! Just yesterday I drove past a freckled patch…. beautiful! And wow how can it be a year since Poetry Camp? I so loved meeting you. Happy Thanksgiving! Thank you for your lovely words. xo
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Your ode to pumpkin is just beautiful. I loved “thank you large melon.” I felt that sentiment in your words. You thought of everything pumpkiny! Pumpkins are definitely an icon of autumn and seeing them makes me happy.
Thanks so much for hosting.
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Violet, your pumpkin poem is rotund and heavy with imagery! I can’t see Mr. Linky so would you post my link for me? Thank you, and thanks for hosting…
http://myjuicylittleuniverse.blogspot.com/2017/10/poetry-that-goes-for-jugular.html
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Thanks, Heidi. I added your link.
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Hello to the poems and the pumpkins!
I shared Moonrise by H.D. at my blog, Bildungsroman:
https://slayground.livejournal.com/859464.html
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I looked for your link and didn’t find it, Little Willow, so I added it to the widget. Hope that’s ok. 🙂
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“Stubby steadfastness!” Just perfect, Violet! Oh, I love these of the “orange generation!” Thank you so much for this. I am so sad when I see a splattered pumpkin…they kinda feel like family. Here’s wishing you tasty loaves. I’ll be cooking with pumpkin this weekend too. Thank you for hosting! xx
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Love your ode to pumpkin! This “icon to autumn ” signals the time for pumpkin chocolate chip bread at our house. The recipe makes seven small loaves, so I always have plenty to share with family and friends.
Hard to believe that our magical poetry camp in Bellingham was a year ago. I’m hoping Sylvia and Janet will do it again!
Thanks for hosting, Violet and for your lovely pumpkin poem.
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Love your poem, Violet. I especially love “your generosity from yellow blossom / to creamy flesh.”
Thank you so much for hosting.
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I did not know that pumpkin rinds were once woven into mats! Love that your poem shares new and old insights into pumpkins!
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Violet, I love your ode to pumpkins–the freckled patch, the burnished soups and stews and the nod to lattes. Delicious and informative from start to finish! Thanks for hosting this week!
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Thank you for your pumpkin poem. I am now officially hungry from some roasted seeds! The pumpkin loaf that you had sounds delicious as well.
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Violet, I am late to the Pumpkin Edition of Poetry Friday so excuse me because I have a good reason. My husband had surgery yesterday and today I brought him home. The surgery was successful and I am most grateful for that. I knew that my post would need some tending and so I finally posted. I am enjoying your hospitality tonight. It looks like you whipped up a wonderful tribute to pumpkins. The word patience popped out at me. I was reading an article today about that word and knew that I needed more patience with my patient so thanks for being today’s host and for your gorgeous pumpkin photo that I would like to add to my next gallery, Autumn Ablaze.
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What a wonderful tribute to everyone’s favorite “orange gourd of October”! I love that you included so many fun facts about pumpkins and their many uses. After jack-o-lanterns, pumpkin bread is my favorite pumpkin reincarnation. Thank you for hosting, Violet. Happy Thanksgiving!
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Hi Violet! Thank you for hosting and for your steadfast generosity! 🙂 Your poem is loads of seasonal fun. I especially like “We see/ ourselves/in your well-formed circle,” “plant within the fire of life/for one secret night,” and the last, delectable, thankful stanza!
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What a wonderful ode to pumpkin! I enjoyed. Happy Thanksgiving. Leftover pumpkin pie with whipped cream is my favorite Thanksgiving treat. Especially for breakfast on the day after Thanksgiving.
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Ooh, that pumpkin breakfast sounds marvellous, Dori! I might just give it a try. 😉
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