October

*I simply cannot let my favorite month slip by without mentioning the thoughts and feelings it stirs. :-)*

Tonight the moon is full and glowing
and the wind sends full gusts of frosty air,
scattering fallen leaves into whirl winds
of skittering sound;
a million tiny clawed feet
madly dashing across flat roads.
It's the time that I feel the most alive,
the most energized,
it's the time of change.

Perhaps it is old blood memories
of a time before
when October meant urgency
to gather and store for a harsh winter ahead.
Maybe my blood also sings of
old beliefs and superstitions,
of the Wild Hunt
and hiding near a bright fire
with the first of the Jack-o-Lanterns
scaring dreaded beasts and the dead
away from the threshold.

Then to be out on such a night
would cause the bravest of souls to freeze
in terror at every sound that might be a footstep.
Now our imaginations place
monsters and ghosts a foot.
behind bushes and trees,
as we gather little monsters
to call on neighbors and beg for
sweets.

So many share this feeling
of anticipation to be frightened,
to be surprised enough to scream out loud,
then laugh at our foolishness,
that it has to be that we all carry blood memories
of those long lost days, of a much simpler
time, of days and nights spent in
celebration of the changing seasons.

Autumn's Samhain, celebrating the end of the harvest,
and honoring the dead.

~K