Happy Poetry Friday!
I’m sharing a poem and WIP watercolor painting. I don’t have a title yet for the poem, it’s very new…
Follow nature
let her lead you into
Falls harvest with
abundant apples mimicking
earth’s ever-turning roundness.
Apples appearing
7–9 million years ago,
dispersed perhaps by
large ice age animals…
Apples flavoring fall
with their succulent sweetness,
in midst of ever growing turmoil.
Follow nature
let her lead—
Although
painfully honest
she’s our guiding light,
through past time
through present time
through future time,
if we will only
follow her,
and let her
lead.
© 2021 Michelle Kogan
draft
Here’s an article on the long history of apples.
And a haiku inspired from my garden this morning…
little paradise
inspiring adventures
and calm breaths…
Some music to send you off with…
Carol Labuzzetta at her blog The Apples in My Orchard is hosting this week’s Poetry Friday Roundup, thanks for hosting Carol! In fact Carol has two posts up, one on the monarch count with a fascinating video of a caterpillar going into its chrysalis. And her second post for Poetry Friday shares three “I am” poems, by three powerful poets that she shared with students this summer, be sure to stop by.
Michelle Kogan Illustration, Painting, & Writing 
I love all your creativity! Ruth, thereisnosuchthingasagodforsakentown.blogspot.com
full moon this Sunday! It has been beautiful every night! Thanks for the song, Michelle, along with all the other autumn hinting. I love “Apples flavoring fall”! They are out in the farmer’s markets & though I can only eat so many, I consider “an apple a day” as truth!
Michelle, isn’t it fun to research something as simple as apples and learn so much! Then have it inspire beautiful art work. I love this line: “Apples flavoring fall” I spent some years in western Michigan, so I have a warm place in my heart for apple picking, homemade apple dumplings and all things warm and apply. Thank you!
I wish there was a “love” button for this post Michelle! It is jam-packed with things I love, and additionally, they all fit the harvest/autumn theme of your WIP. My husband and I have had a long love affair with apples! We’ve had two home orchards with many varieties of the succulent sweetness that you so aptly refer to in your poem, and we’re about to start a third! Apples are fascinating for students to exam and learn about as well! I’ll be sure to visit your apple history link! And, lastly, the music was a great touch with which to end your post! I enjoyed that as well. Thanks so much for your support this week with my first time hosting Poetry Friday! It is truly appreciated!
I just love the idea of allowing nature to lead the way! If we could just let that humble force show us the way we might get through our perpetual crisis. I’ve heard of Al Kemp, and now know what he looks like and what his clarinet (I think) sounds like. Thanks for sharing.
I love the repetition in the second stanza and the feeling of pleading it creates. Nature has so much to teach us if we slow down long enough to pay attention. Your art is a delight, too!
I love the apples compare to the earth. The WIP watercolor is beautiful. I hope your share the finished piece. Doing research for a poem is the best.
I feel surrounded by goodness, as if in a nasturtium glade flavored by apple scent! Yet HOLD ON, FALL. It’s not your turn yet!
I love the turn of seriousness in your poem — we MUST pay attention to nature! All of our lives depend on it.
And that photo of your garden! SWOON! All the colors and shapes and textures. Truly the garden of an artist!
So much beauty in this post. Your work-in-progress is beautiful. I love all the apple facts that you’ve given us in the poem – the painting and the poem in dialogue with each other. And a peaceful haiku inspired by a peaceful garden sounds like something we can all use, at the moment.
Thanks Elisabeth, there’s so much strife all around us—big sigh—nature can help balance us, so we dive back in and deal with all and do what we can.
Hi, Michelle. I learned something from the facts in your poem today. “Apples flavoring fall
with their succulent sweetness” makes me hungry for apple fritters!
A beautiful post, Michelle, from start to finish. I love your garden haiku and can identify with the mix of adventure and calm you find there. I also thoroughly enjoyed listening to the song you linked. It was a perfect way to end this summer day.
I love when all the bins at the market fill up with different varieties of apples. It’s too warm and tropical here to grow them. Thanks for the turn toward fall. I am ready for crisp mornings.
Michelle, thanks for the invitation: “in midst of ever growing turmoil.
Follow nature
let her lead”.
Your painting is lovely and a beautiful reminder that fall is approaching.
*sigh* Your watercolor is exquisite, Michelle, and it is only a WIP! Such talent.
I, too, love the line,
“Apples flavoring fall
with their succulent sweetness,
in midst of ever growing turmoil.”
We need these words (and flavor!) to carry us forward.