Late Autumn

~ ~M

Damp and decaying like timeworn leather, the
wind stirs each fossilized apparition.
Holding fast against the sultry winds of
time; clinging, dependent, on limp limbs. These
creaky extremities reach for silhouetted faces,
haunting shadows with limited life. And in
withered strain feeble fists persevere, while the
sufferings of the season wilt within the crowd.
Littering the pavement like languorous petals,
inky remembrances of rosier days pass on.
In the bleakness of the night with a
shudder and a sigh, wasting away in the wet
rot of decomposing rainbows. Now black
and spoiled against the barren bough.

© 2023 Michelle Cook

 

*Golden Shovel Poetry Writing Exercise
The only rule for this type of poem is that each word of your source poem must appear as the last word of each line in your poem—and they should be in the order that they appear in the original. Your poem will contain as many lines as your source poem has words.

Here’s the poem I chose to use. (So if you read down my poem, the end of each line uses all these words in order.)

In the Station of the Metro

The apparition of these faces in the crowd:
Petals on a wet, black bough.

by Ezra Pound


Photo credit: https://pixabay.com/photos/branches-tree-black-and-white-rain-4621320/

23 thoughts on “Late Autumn”

    1. It’d be fun to choose a poem and create a challenge on here for it. I could always create a video tutorial I suppose. It’s a very fun way to write a poem. I hope you’ll try it and I’d love to see what you come up with.

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    1. Yes, pick any poem. The shorter the better or your poem will be really long. It was for a class project. The structure of the poem I wrote is best viewed from a computer, otherwise it won’t make sense.

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        1. Thank you so much. This is one of my favorites but I think that’s because it was inspired by such great words which enhanced my own creativity. I will likely do more of these because it was so much fun. Another thing you can do is find a random article in a magazine or book and circle all the words that stand out. Then you write a poem using all of those words. I wrote a poem using words from a kids book about health. It turned out to be another favorite of mine.

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    1. Thank you, Cindy… it’s one of my favorites and I think that’s because the inspiration for it came from another poet. I think I always do my best work when collaborating with others. (Whether they know it or not) 😉

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