Skip to main content

Poetry Friday: Spooktober

I've been immersed in poetry and verse in the past couple of weeks - first in a Novel in Verse virtual workshop led by the amazing Nikki Grimes and Padma Venkatraman, then in my own work as I dived in deep to apply all the insights and tips that I took away from that experience. 

Poems arrived in my inbox this week, via the Academy of American Poets newsletter featuring a selection of poems for Indigenous Peoples' Day. 

I particularly loved the poem by Rainy Dawn Ortiz that starts:

Something Else.
Some one else
Some where else

That place is here,
In my home,
We are here.

You can read the rest of the poem and learn more about the poet here

One of the things I love about being a part of Poetry Friday is the inspiration to play with different poetic forms. Thoughts about poetic forms were milling around in my mind when they bumped into Inktober, an annual event in which illustrators create a drawing each day during the month of October. Sparks flew and an idea was born. I searched online and found an Inktober prompt list that I liked, and resolved to have a spooky, poetic month that I'm calling Spooktober. I'm writing a poem a day, one for each of the prompts in my chosen Inktober list. 

A list of 31 creative prompts compiled by @dqykdesign, @laura.m.duimitriu, @adesignerlife_ The prompts are: Moth, pumpkin, ghost, skull, mask, tarot, cat, moon, galaxy, beetle, hat, wand, potion, spellbook, snake, crow, mouse, poison, wings, eyes, cauldron, witch/wizard, bat, demon, spell, elf, gravestone, owl, spider web, vampire, Halloween


I decided to use this as a chance to practice with a few specific poetic forms, so (almost) every poem I write for the prompts will either be a haiku, a senryu or a tanka. Each Friday during October, I'll share the poems I've written in the previous week. So, here are my poems for week one of Spooktober. I hope they give you some spooky fun!

Poem 1: Moth Night-navigator  This is not the lunar light You seek. Porch light off. © 2021, Elisabeth Norton

Poem 2: Pumpkins October’s party dress: Bright orange polka dots On background of brown and green. © 2021, Elisabeth Norton

Poem 3: GhostHouse to house they go Trick-or-treating in a row. Parent counts five heads Kelly, Yasmin, Derrick, Fred. Does anyone know that ghost? © 2021, Elisabeth Norton

Picture of a skeleton without a head. Poem 4: Skull “Don’t lose your head,” Everyone said. But I did! Have you seen my skull? © 2021, Elisabeth Norton

Picture of a friendly-looking one-eyed monster. Poem 5: MaskWhen others dress up My costume and mask come off. Halloween secret! © 2021, Elisabeth Norton

Picture of two ghosts holding trick or treat bags. Poem 6: Tarot We’re here to predict: If our future brings us treats, Yours is free of tricks! © 2021, Elisabeth Norton

Poem 7: Cat Slinking past bushes, Stalking, crouching, springing, pounce! One gold leaf, subdued. © 2021, Elisabeth Norton

Poem 8: Moon Waxing crescent glows Against the inky darkness, Smiles down on autumn.© 2021, Elisabeth Norton


Our host for Poetry Friday this week is Irene Latham over at Live Your Poem. Hop over to her corner of the internet for today's roundup of poetic goodness!

(all ilustrations from Pixabay. Licence Free for Commercial Use/No Attribution Required. Links to individual clipart: Skeleton Ghost Monster)

Comments

  1. Replies
    1. Thanks Patti! I'm having a lot of fun with these.

      Delete
  2. Elizabeth, these are fantastic! How fun. What a way to bring some levity into the day. I love #3. Counting heads on Halloween is tricky when you have lots of kids. Made me laugh. I think you have a great collection started!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Linda! Some of the prompts are challenging but I'm having fun trying to figure out how to make them fun and kid-friendly.

      Delete
  3. Oh that smiling moon... wow, you're off to a great start for the month. Keep going, keep going!

    ReplyDelete
  4. What fun, love all of these. Looking forward to more of your Spooktober shares. :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. These are lovely, Elizabeth! The Mask poem is funny. I think Haiku are perfect for Halloween, often spooky and illusive.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love the feistiness of the Ortiz poem, Elisabeth, "We are something else"! And your 'spooktober' poems are awesome- those polka dot pumpkins, does anyone know that ghost?, and one gold leaf subdued - everyone packs a smile! Happy weekend!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I liked that assertion of presence in the Ortiz poem as well. Thanks for the comments on the spooktober poems!

      Delete
  7. Elisabeth, it looks like you have set yourself a serious challenge which is also very doable! I like number 5 the best, and I love the way you've formatted these. Are the illustrations your own? Very cute!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for your comments Heidi! I'm having fun with this even as I struggle to write the next poem :-D. The illustrations are from Pixabay (the credits are at the bottom of the post, including links to the pages for each). I thought they were a fun way to illustrate some of the poems.

      Delete
  8. Thanks for all of this! I clicked through and read the rest of Rainy Dawn Ortiz's poem, and then enjoyed yours too!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Those haiku are so much fun! Yay. The "porch light off" made me laugh.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm glad you enjoyed them and that it gave you a laugh.

      Delete
  10. I love them all, but Mask made me laugh out loud!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I couldn't ask for a better result - thanks Mary Lee!

      Delete
  11. I see that you are having so much fun with inktober prompts, Elisabeth. The last two resonate with me. Thanks for Ortiz's poem. It is such an important one for this holiday.
    "Native People,
    Indigenous to this land"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree Carol - I'm glad you enjoyed Ortiz's poem. Thanks for your comments about my poems as well.

      Delete
  12. Elisabeth, I like your spooktober list you found, and the playful way you are engaging with the words. I love the pumpkin polka dots!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! I'm having fun trying to come up with creative interpretations of the prompts.

      Delete
  13. These are all fa-boo-lous, Elisabeth. I especially like Pumpkins...you squashed the party dress. ;)

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thank you for your comments! Comment moderation is active. Your comments will be posted after they have been reviewed. Thank you for your patience!

Popular posts from this blog

Poetry Friday: Story Cubes Poems "Plot Problems"

 Welcome to Poetry Friday! Our host this week is Mary Lee. She's shared a wonderful poem of her own, one by Sandra Cisneros, a video and more in her post. You can find all that poetic goodness and links to the other participating poets over here on her blog. My Story Cubes poetry prompt this week had me a little stumped at first. In addition to trying to write fast, I'm also challenging myself to keep the order of the dice in my poem. So if the cauldron comes first, I'm trying to make it first thing I mention. Either I like multi-dimensional chess, or I like making things challenging for myself. Or maybe both! Here are this week's prompts: And here is my poem. Plot Problems First I drew a cauldron Bubbling full of poisoned brew. Then I drew a hungry hero Now I don’t know what to do. hmmm . . . .  I know how to fix this! Draw one big foot, then two. Run fast, my big foot hero! Go find some barbecue. © 2025, Elisabeth Norton, all rights reserved What about you? Have you

Poetry Friday: Welcome to the Party!

There is so much happening in our world right now, it can be hard to take it all in. In these times, more than ever, I am grateful for poetry.  Sometimes I write it.  Sometimes I have no words of my own, so I read and reflect on the poetic words of others.  Either way, poetry helps me process my thoughts and feelings about the world and my experiences in it. My poetic offering today is a poem I wrote earlier this spring, on a rare day when my husband had to go to the office for an in-person meeting and I took our usual lunchtime walk alone.  I am a creature of habit, but on that day I challenged myself to break routine and change direction, and this poem was the result. Today I go against the grain, turn left  Instead of right, Let the path take me away from home Instead of towards it. Today I go against the grain, go up the slope I usually walk down. Climbing uses different muscles Than descent. Today I go with the grain, walk downstream Instead of up, Walk with the flow, Instead of a

Poetry Friday: The Party is Here!

 Welcome everyone to Poetry Friday! If you're new to Poetry Friday, you can read more about it here . I've been chasing deadlines all week, but poetry always provides a welcome pause in the busiest of schedules. Perhaps because of the kind of writing I've been doing (which is not related to poetry at all) it was a bit hard to get started on a poem this week. I looked at a few of the poetic forms I've bookmarked over the past months, but in the end, turned to one of my favorite forms, the acrostic .  Thanks for joining the Poetry Friday party today! Add your link to the party below. You are invited to the Inlinkz link party! Click here to enter