The Problem of Pumpkins

I don’t think I’m alone in having some stringent Halloween traditions. I know they are more common in the holiday season, but during the fall I feel more pressure to fit in more things and more of things that remind me how happy autumn makes me. It’s partially because the fall is so short, and October and spooky season even more so (though it has helped that we extend it through August).

For the last five years, we have had a very definite procedure when it comes to picking pumpkins. We go to a local farm. I tell my lovely spouse to get some smaller, easier to carve pumpkins this year, please, and then we end up getting all of the large and unwieldly pumpkins she wants because I melt every time she smiles at me and looks up at me with that particular glint in her eyes. And we go through this ritual the first week of October and have pumpkins on our porch for the month.

This year the farm has closed, and though Halloween is drawing closer, we still have only two pumpkins to show for it. We need to get going and get some orange, round gourd friends, but instead we seem to be operating in a kind of miasma of indecision. Hopefully we can get it together soon. Pumpkins wait for no one!

Poems Bewitched and Haunted

This review is a bit of a triple threat. I got a bit overindulgent at my local independent bookstore and came home with three pocket collections of poetry from the Everyman’s Library. The volumes are compact and beautiful, and look great on the shelf — plus the collections are both thorough and accessible for someone who doesn’t read as much poetry as literature.

The first of these spooky books is Poems Bewitched and Haunted, which features poems that (like all of the collections) extend from ancient texts to nearly the present day. This volume specifically focusses on witches and witchcraft, hauntings and spells. There’s also a delightful section of lighter and more humorous poems at the back. If there was a fault to find, I’d say that some subjects were a bit too heavily explored. Circe is the subject of quite a few poems. Some of the selections are a bit long and stray a bit too far from the theme. However, I was thoroughly entertained and excited to read the next volume in the collection!

Killer Verse

The second volume is by far and away the best of the collection. Killer Verse focusses on murders and violence and covers many different areas of the subject. There’s a section on violence perpetrated by family. Another one that centers around verse about victims. There’s noir. There’re serial killers. There is an excellent collection of murder ballads — my personal favourites. The compilation includes modern crimes and murders that happened in recent memory. There are fictional crimes and real ones detailed. It’s poignant and beautiful and many of these poems are not afraid to make bold statements with profound impact.

It was actually difficult not to read this entire book in one sitting. But I wanted to make sure I savoured it and I would recommend stretching the small volume across at least a few days of reading.

Poems Dead and Undead

After getting through such an amazing second volume it was very difficult to get through a rather mediocre third one. Poems Dead and Undead is guilty of a something I get extremely annoyed by in collections like these: Namely, it repeats some poems from the previous two volumes. It also has a bit of strange focus. Yes, there are ghouls and goblins — but some of these poems would be better served by being included in a collection focussed on grief. It was also heavily weighted to older poetry and ancient texts — some of which were reproduced at great length. This made more of the volume inaccessible and harder to read. There was no temptation to read this book in one sitting and that made me sad after Killer Verse was so compelling.

In conclusion, I have no regrets when it comes to spending some quality time with poetry and no regrets about purchasing these three books. But I will be having a hard think about whether all three volumes make it to my permanent shelves. Sadly, space is in short supply and unless something is exceptional it goes into the donation stacks. Killer Verse has definitely earned a space, though.

October Birthday

My lovely spouse’s birthday is in October and it always feels so busy because the year is drawing to a close and the holidays are chomping at the bit. But I would never change it. All of the trees are dressed in their best reds and golds, and the breeze has a crisp, welcoming edge to it. The flora and fauna are at their best and busiest before winter comes. It’s like the entire world is celebrating her birthday with us and reminding us that it is just one joyous day of the many still to come.