AUTUMN LEAVES

(Autumn Leaves in Gifford Woods)

Although I am new to the blogging malarkey or maybe because I am new, I have been thinking about using it to best advantage. If someone told me that anyone in the world who wants to drop into my blogspot could read my musings, I might feel overwhelmed. That is until someone else told me that I am only likely to be read by one or two people and that the chances of being propelled to international fame are as likely as me winning the lottery or getting my book published (both of which are on stand-by at the moment.)

This means that I have an unexpected freedom to use this amazing set up in the best way I can think of. If it is true that one person will read this blog and that person is you, I am delighted to say that I have an idea which might be of interest.

Here’s the deal - I like poetry and I like writing poetry about things that inspire me. If you like writing poetry too, why not use the next few blogs to put together a poem about autumn leaves. This does assume that you are in the Northern hemisphere and that it is autumn where you are, but if you are in Australia or any other country in the Southern hemisphere just enjoy the sun and imagine it’s autumn.
‘But..’ you might ask, ‘how will I write a poem on autumn leaves?
I have a plan.
The first thing to do is to make a few notes about autumn leaves. Here is one I did earlier – during a particularly boring meeting at work.
• Colours – yellow, red, brown and green.
• Leaf fall – wind.
• Mulch
• Spots on leaves
If you think that this is a bit sparse you are right, it was after all an uninspiring meeting. Luckily, I remembered something that a very good poet called Mandy Haggith told me when I was in Lochinver
‘Go out and note down your observations and thoughts,’ she said.
Yesterday, with this in mind, I got on my bike and had a cycle in woods around Gifford. It was a glorious autumn day and the sun shone on the trees and piles of leaves giving me just the right amount of inspiration. I jumped off my bike and looked around and then made another list.
• Colours – green, yellow, brown, sienna, rust, black spots, grey, light brown, teak and all at once on the same leaf. Earth colours everywhere.
• Texture – dry and rustley, damp and glistening, parchment.
• Litter and clutter.
• Storms of leaves like snow.
• A symphony of sizes and shapes
• Wind rustling leaves in the branches and clusters on the ground.
• Breezes touching leaves – rippling.
• Sunlight glancing onto leaves.
• A mixture of visual delights.
• A feast for the eyes – delicate and vibrant
• Waving leaves on branches. Fluttering
• Pure dappled light

Wow – Mandy was right about getting out and about. But it’s a lot of material for a poem, and it doesn’t all have to be used.
Something occurred to me during my trip and that was:
‘Should the poem be a description of autumn leaves and the emotions they elicit in me, or could I write it from a different angle?'
• From the point of view of a big Oak leaf falling from the Oak tree,landing in a burn and travelling to… who knows where.
• Leaves with frost coats, or wet with rain or dancing in the wind.
• At last dropping from the branch, making compost for tomorrow.
• There will be many other possibilities.

If you would like to write your own poem, we can turn these thoughts, and many others into a poem. If you like, we can offer each other comments and constructive ideas and by the end of the week, we will have a finished product ready for an unsuspecting world.