Fall Poetry: A Miniature Anthology
Caty Childress, Editor
“Her Walk Home”
Claire McConnell
Her walk home is one rarely right.
It’s left and left and endless night.
Wheels turn and headlights glow
With quiet honking on a lonely road.
She holds a black light among the trees,
So for once their shadows might give her ease.
The leaves dangled in front her eyes.
Their crackle spoke to her demise.
A dissonant, rhythmic crackle spoke.
And a busy breath made her choke.
With arms that hung and swung to and fro
And a head that tilted down below.
A black light could never reveal
That which the night so creepily conceals.
It’s not the shapes or splotches or stains
It’s remnants from before; whatever remains.
Let this be a cautionary tale
Of one woman’s walk along a trail;
That echos that of her mother’s,
That bellows from fathers and brothers.
While these arms and head that seem so menacing
May merely be an athlete; She’s still left trembling
Under the cape of night that seems so regal
Feeling fond endorphins that know no equal.
As she approaches that visage of hope
The three colored lights that so carefully interlope
These intersections, may God bare witness
To his concrete plague and unrelenting sickness.
Listen to her, as she speaks what's true
When she looks at the stars everything goes blue
Ah- the color of sweet acceptance
To leave home and experience repentance.
“October 5th”
Abyssinia Krueger
The sun warms all keeping chills at bay
Lighting a brilliant blue sky
Dotted with clouds that attempt to lie
But delicately drift away
On a breeze so thin
It barely ruffles my hair
Making the trees dare
To whisper in the wind
With their tinted leaves
Everything a shade of golden green
Or reddish orange together deem
Fall is here in the tapestry of seasons that is so weaved.
“The Road”
Ell Himes
The road began
in a straight line
and signs guided my direction
to curve with the path, or steady my speed
but a fork hath lay ahead
dividing my choices
and doubling my journey
how could I know
if left or right could lead to a dead end?
If I had to retrace my steps
Would I, could I
Reach my destination
or be stuck at the side of the road
watching others divulge their strides
but a fork lies ahead
and the choice is my own
to divert from what has been walked before
decorating a new road with the footprints of my own shoes
“i saw her go”
Sadie Overstreet
i saw a princess in her purple dress
with a tiara in her hair
her sparkles left a pretty mess
on the sidewalk here and there
she looked to be only 8 or 9
with bones very frail and small
she was out hours past her bedtime
but it’s halloween after all
she skipped along all alone
but the girl, she had no fear
candy is the only thing she knows
why else would she be here
in front of the house we know not to go
the legends say it’s unsafe
the signs scream “beware”, “turn back”, and “no”
but the girl walked right into her grave
thunder boomed above the house
dark windows shut with no lights
you could hear the scurry of a mouse
that knows something isn’t right
i heard her knock once, hoping,
for “trick or treat” to meet her
till the booming door creaked open
and dark silence greeted her
from the street i heard a shriek
that shook me to my core
i turned around and what did i see
but a little girl no more
that’s the tale of the haunted shack
that sits on the corner of the road.
no one ever saw the poor girl come back
and only i saw her go.
