November is here and it’s dark. The sun is slanting in the sky, the weather is cooling, and the days are shorter. Therefore, my friend, teacher, photographer Lory Landry was able to capture this sunrise on the way to school. Around here, the sugarcane is either standing tall or freshly cut. It’s harvesting season. That also means that when the wind is just right, you get a whiff of burning cane-fields. They still do this despite its harmfulness to the environment. If truth be told, I like the scent. I also like that it means fall and Christmas.
Please take a moment in your busy day to muse about this photo. Leave a small poem in the comments and write some encouraging words for others.
November 1st
A scent of wood burning
Margaret Simon, draft
A splatter of candy on concrete
Jack-o-lanterns gone to seed
A sprinkle of egrets perch like twin moons in the trees
A church bell chimes
Embrace the red sunrise
And praise the morning light.
Reflections on the Teche 
Wonderful appeal to the senses, Margaret.
Fire rises
Into an azure sky.
Morning glory.
I love the multiple ways of hearing/feeling “morning glory”, Rose!
Thanks, Carol.
I love how you see the fire rising and echo my praise with morning glory!
Margaret, I love all of your “here-is-my-world” details. Rose, you did in 8 words what I tried for in 17 syllables:
troublesome sunrise
smell of fall colors the air
burnt orange sky
I love the “smell of fall” – it’s quite distinct, isn’t it?
Love the smell of fall colors. When I worked with my students today, I pushed them to include all the senses in their poems.
A gorgeous photo and beautiful poem…the setting is new to me (other than the sky and the sun), and stimulates newly-imagined scents!
WELCOME
Blue sky senses gold
Agrees, politely gives way
Gold thanks Blue: sunrise.
Carol Coven Grannick, Draft
Nicely done.
I love ‘troublesome sunrise’, Mary Lee!
Your images are gorgeous, Margaret. I confess I like the smell of gasoline–and I always feel a little guilty about it. I’m here today because I’m taking a sick day, but I’ve committed to writing a poem a day in November. So your prompt showing up in my Twitter feed was just in time!
I love those jack-o-lanterns gone to seed, the line “Fire rises” (Rose), the “troublesome sunrise” (Mary Lee), and the cordiality of that encounter between blue sky and gold sun (Carol). Thanks, everyone!
Here’s my poem:
Saying Yes
The sugarcane sings to the sky
keeping one watchful eye past the horizon
where the cut,
the harvest,
the burn
are surely coming.
But in the hovering autumn,
she says yes to the sunrise.
Yes to the tanager.
Yes to the whole sweet song.
draft Laura Purdie Salas
I’m so glad you stopped in today. Such a rich and sensual poem. I love the yeses at the end and imagine this is me saying yes to the whole sweet song!
Yes!
When I grew up we all burned leaves in our backyards. Now a no no, but I loved the smell. I like the scent, splatter & sprinkle (Margaret), the azure morning glory (Rose), I can smell that burnt orange sky, like frosting under the broiler (Mary Lee), the polite personification in Carol’s, and the hovering whole sweet song (Laura).
I’m really late, busy day… but here goes:
What will the day bring?
Two brave canes
stand and sway
in the early breeze
Their only care
is to do their thing
Full of grace and truth.
– Karen Eastlund, draft
Just do your thing, too, with the wave of the magic poem wand. I’m glad you stopped in.
I love the smell of burning leaves. Reminds me of a bonfire. Thanks.