Autumn A Minor Bird
Ann Dixon
Peeking through a curtain of cold, I have not wished a bird would fly away,
Autumn leaves hide, tattered and old. And not sing by my house all day;
Yesterday’s colors,
Yesterday’s story Have clapped my hands at him from the door
Dreaming already of next year’s glory. When it seemed as if I could bear no more.
The fault must partly have been in me.
The bird was not to blame for his key.
And of course there must be something wrong
In wanting to silence any song.
Robert Frost
Neighbors in October
Nothing Gold Can Stay
BY DAVID BAKER
Nature's first green is gold,
All afternoon his tractor pulls a flat wagon Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
with bales to the barn, then back to the waiting But only so an hour.
chopped field. It trails a feather of smoke.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
Down the block we bend with the season: So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
shoes to polish for a big game,
storm windows to batten or patch. Robert Frost
And how like a field is the whole sky now
that the maples have shed their leaves, too.
It makes us believers—stationed in groups,
leaning on rakes, looking into space. We rub blisters
over billows of leaf smoke. Or stand alone,
bagging gold for the cold days to come.
FALL POEM
Please include the following items in your poem, which is due _____________________.
1. At least 10 lines
2. At least 2 stanzas
3. Rhyme Scheme: label the rhyme scheme, and make it consistent throughout the
poem. OR, if you want to substitute another sound, you may. (Alliteration, repetition,
onomatopoeia.)
4. A description/reaction/explanation of something YOU have experienced in the fall.
This does not have to mean a physical description of the autumn season. Just use
fall/autumn as a starting point. OR, you may use one of the poems we have read this year
as an inspiration. If a poem asked a question, try to answer it. If a poem discussed a topic
that interests you, expand on it. You might want to make this a “reply” to the poet or the
speaker of the poem.
Do include imagery—make sure you are appealing to specific senses, not just using
random adjectives. Colors can also be helpful here. Your figures of speech might also
play a part.
5. At least TWO different figures of speech, also known as literary devices. Use one of
the following: personification, simile, metaphor, allusion. Underline and label these.
This does NOT mean poetic sounds, like alliteration and onomatopoeia, but feel free to
use these if they help your poem sound better.
Your heading should include the following in the upper right hand corner of the page:
(10) 10 lines
(10) 2 stanzas
(10) rhyme scheme
(20) description
(40) 2 figures of speech