Lobelia and Bees, WIP, © 2091 Michelle Kogan, watercolor and watercolor pencil.
Happy Poetry Friday!
I had a week off in between my summer and fall classes that I teach, and tried to fit in a little bit of painting… My hearts still in summer but the leaves that are falling are gently suggesting a change in seasons. My tanka poem this week came from the leaves lightly whispering my way…
AUTUMN’S CALL
As I paint many
golden feathered leaves fall,
spiral by my eyes,
thump–unexpectedly–
Ah autumn’s come to call…
© 2019 Michelle Kogan
I figure, I better give you some leaves too… But if you see some won’t you mention to them, we’re in no rush, they can take their time.
Fall Leaves Cannon Drive, Greeting Card available in my Etsy Shop, Dr. Martin watercolor and pen.
And here’s Mary Oliver’s poem:
FALL
the black oaks
fling their bronze fruit
into all the pockets of the earth
pock pock
they knock against the thresholds
the roof the sidewalk
fill the eaves
the bottom line
of the old gold song
of the almost finished year
what is spring all that tender
green stuff
compared to this
falling of tiny oak trees
out of the oak trees
then the clouds
Read the rest of her gorgeous poem here.
Sending my thoughts out to all those in the path of hurricane Dorian and her storms.
Visit Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong at Sylvia’s blog Poetry for Children for this weeks Poetry Friday Roundup. They are welcoming everyone back to the school year with Traci Sorell’s poem Thankful. Thanks for hosting Sylvia and Janet!
Visit Renée LaTulippe’s site No Water River to find out more about what Poetry Friday is.
Michelle Kogan Illustration, Painting, & Writing 
Your post is a beautiful entrance for autumn. Silver seeds and golden feathers — some unexpected images!
I like your lobelia as much as your bees do! 🙂
Aren’t those silver seeds fun, they dress in festive colors for fall. I’ll let the bees 🐝 know… Thanks Tabatha!
A lovely pairing for welcoming autumn, Michelle. Our leaves are still green here in central Illinois, but it won’t be long!
Thanks Kimberly! The leaves began changing in the last week or two, we’ve still many green leaves but many falling…
I love the tactile-ness of both of these poems. Leaves thumping and trees flinging leaves. So great!
Thanks Rebecca, I never knew a leaf 🍂 to thump till one pleasantly did that on my painting easel. Hope you and your family weathered Dorian without much duress.
I am seeing lobelia in some places when I walk. Your painting is beautiful, Michelle. And that card with the leaves, ‘ah, autumn’s come to call…’ is perfect. I haven’t seen it happen here, but the trees show a dullness they haven’t shown before. Yes, on its way! Thanks.
Thanks Linda! What fun to see the lobelia, mine is very full this year, unfortunately the blooms don’t last that long. My Plein Air class ran this summer so I had the grand opportunity to paint in Chicago’s Caldwell Lily Pond, it was there the Golden leaves 🍁 and I engaged.
I love the last line and the way your painting is more finished at the top and more of a sketch below.
Thanks Liz, the painting is calling too, but will have to wait…
Ah, I am with you; “my heart’s still in summer”… but each day this week, in the morning darkness, as I sipped my first cup of coffee on my back porch, I’ve drunk deeply of the cool sweetness of fall’s coming. I like the word twisting in your tanka. The first twist that caught my eye was “fall” as a verb when I expected it to be a noun. And I love your enjambed lines “As I paint many / golden feathered leaves fall,” where the direct object of “paint” is also the subject of “fall” — something that works so well in poetry but not at all in prose. And… thank you for sharing Mary Oliver’s rich poem.
Hope the summer lingers on for you a bit Alice, thanks!
I adore fall’s unexpected thump!
Thanks Laura, it was a welcomed surprise to me too!
Thank you for your beautiful art and your poem noticing the harbingers of fall. I love Oliver’s lines:
the old gold song
of the almost finished year
Thanks Joyce!
Love the delicacy of your painting, and enjoyed both poems. A lovely, gentle entry into autumn . . .
Thanks Jama–perhaps the political arena could follow suit with gentleness…
Love, love the addition of the Mary Oliver poem! Your poems and paintings are delightful! They give me the urge to go outside and look for autumn. It can’t get here soon enough for me!
Thanks Kiesha, I do love the colors that fall brings us.
Gorgeous painting and poem. I’m ready for fall, but hope it lingers well through the end of the year. I suspect–hope–the hills we’ve moved to will be a riot of color next month.
Thanks Kay, enjoy the changing colors as they come…
Hi, Michelle, and thanks for joining our Poetry Friday gathering. How did I not know you were an artist as well as a poet? Your paintings are beautiful!
Thanks Sylvia, I juggle both in my bag of tricks…