"October" by Robert Frost

 

Gilbert Layton Park in October 2012

O hushed October morning mild,

Thy leaves have ripened to the fall;

Tomorrow’s wind, if it be wild,

Should waste them all.

The crows above the forest call;

Tomorrow they may form and go.

O hushed October morning mild,

Begin the hours of this day slow.

Make the day seem to us less brief.

Hearts not averse to being beguiled,

Beguile us in the way you know.

Release one leaf at break of day;

At noon release another leaf;

One from our trees, one far away.

Retard the sun with gentle mist;

Enchant the land with amethyst.

Slow, slow!

For the grapes’ sake, if they were all,

Whose leaves already are burnt with frost,

Whose clustered fruit must else be lost—

For the grapes’ sake along the wall.

The season of October

Let's make October a season unto itself, that's how October felt this year; warm, blue sky, beginning with green leaves, then yellow leaves, and now the leaves have fallen. The transition from late summer to fall is impressive. There are even a few flowers left in the garden; so far, no frost.

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You know what poets need? They need to write a few poems that people like, that people refer to when they think of that poet's work. Poets don't need a lot of poems but they need at least one or two poems that speak to people, that speak to the inner being of people. If poets write and publish a lot of books and poems most of that output will be fairly meaningless, just more dross, if they don't have a few poems that are identified with them as poets. 

One of the worst things for a poet is to be obscure in their work. Mary Oliver isn't obscure in her work and some poets complain that her work lacks depth, but many others love her work and she is one of the most popular poets of the last thirty or more years. You can be obscure and some people will think you are clever and really smart, taking poetry to the next level, but it takes just one person to see that the obscurity in this person's work is meaningless, pretension, and then the whole house of cards will fall. A really good poet can be obscure and with time it will be explained or speculated on and it will be interesting to read about, it might even benefit that person's reputation as a poet; but minor poets, when they are obscure, it might be that they just aren't very good at writing poems, they didn't have anything to say. 

Here we are, walking on the hidden trail, just a few days ago. It's one of the most beautiful Octobers, it's the new season of October and it was a great day for a walk. 

"The night is darkening round me" by Emily Bronte

This is the Sulpician Seminary, the College de Montreal, 
on Sherbrooke Street West near Fort and Towers, near Atwater;
that is one of the towers. Taken in 2013.

              

The night is darkening round me,

The wild winds coldly blow;

But a tyrant spell has bound me,

And I cannot, cannot go.

The giant trees are bending

Their bare boughs weighed with snow;

The storm is fast descending,

And yet I cannot go.

Clouds beyond clouds above me,

Wastes beyond wastes below;

But nothing drear can move me;

I will not, cannot go.

Last days of October

This has been a spectacular October, the autumn leaves have never been more colourful, tree lined streets with yellow or red leaves, and it's been mild, +24 C earlier this week. Who could ask for better than that? And birds love this mild weather. I guess they were mostly young robins hanging out at the bird bath, jostling each other for a position, acting like adolescents, that were here a few weeks ago. The younger robins seem to have migrated, but the older robins are still here and not as eager to leave since the weather has been so good. Robins, blue jays, cardinals, and other birds, visiting the bird bath; and one has a feeling of affection for them and happy I could do something for the birds, provide this bird bath and keep it filled with clean water. They give me more than they take, a bird bath and some clean water. You get the idea of the back yard and the birds from these photographs, taken from our dining room window.

This is a second bird bath, it's the pedestal of an old bird bath with
a plastic plate glued onto it to hold about a two inch deep amount of water. 
Not very elegant but it works... 

Spider web outside a church

When I noticed these spider webs outside of St. Philip's Anglican Church, I thought they were a Halloween decoration. But they are actual spider webs, I think made more visible by moisture on the filaments. There they hang where a spider made them, ponderous and visible. 

"October Song" by The Incredible String Band

 

Happy Covid Halloween 2020!

 

Canada Geese at Meadowbrook Golf Course

 Morning walk, 18 October 2020.

Mid-October and out for a walk

It's the Canadian Thanksgiving and we're headed into a federal election, the choices are minimal and not too exciting. So far it's been a lot of promises paid for with taxpayer money, endless speeches, scandals that blew over, and the whole thing descended into a comedy that is not funny or even entertaining.

Winter is not far off, this is the last chance for honey bees to stock up on pollen

Concordia University has made this mini-park just outside the rear gates of Loyola Campus 

Also at the mini-park

The baseball diamond is in the rear, at Loyola Park between Fielding and Somerled

Home sweet home...