In October, one can drive around most neighborhoods in the U.S. on the prowl for spooky decorations without disappointment. Houses are bedecked in giant spiders and skeletons, makeshift front-lawn graveyards, witches, hooded figures, and ghosts dancing in rings (not to mention the rows of carved pumpkins). In some parts of the country, folks also head out to look for the perfect foliage, either for a pretty photo op, or for pure enjoyment.
Meanwhile, on the world wide web, people search October for very different things. Here are just a few of those according to Google Trends, each accompanied by a poem.
1. Northern Lights
Walking to the end of my driveway after dark, cell phone camera in hand, I finally saw it — the aurora borealis, the northern lights. Underwhelming is too strong a word, but I’ll admit that I was whelmed. Through my phone, the sky turned fuschia; with my naked eye, the faintest purple highlights fought their way through an otherwise normal night. So it was pretty and bright on a phone screen, and isn’t that what I was already seeing on Facebook? Digital glamor.
Aimee Nezhukumatathil expresses a similar disenchantment with the northern lights, but for entirely different reasons. What’s a luminescent natural phenomenon compared with love?
Read “Letter to the Northern Lights” by Aimme Nezhukumatathil.
2. Tesla Robot
When I saw that “Tesla robot” was a trending search term last week, I asked myself, “What even is that?” It’s typical of me not to be aware of trends. However, I asked only myself and looked no further, and so I remain blissfully ignorant of all things Tesla.
Instead, I spent some extra time with poems from Sasha Stiles’ TechnELEGY, featured in an October, 2019 issue of The Common. Stiles was writing about creepy tech, AI, and robots five years ahead of the current robot trend (whatever it is). Poetry is prescient.
3. Freeze Warning
We’ve already had a few frosts here in Massachusetts this October. Frost-edged leaves reflecting early morning sunlight are some of my favorite things— when the whole ground looks like a sea of jewels, green to orange to silver. Those googling the term were probably doing their best to prepare their plants for the harsh cold, and I hope all were successful in that endeavor.
My fellow Massachusetts poet (in fact, the poet laureate of Worcester, MA) Oliver de la Paz contemplates migration as he notes the quietness of bird call preceding a New England freeze:
“...I haven’t slept for two nights
because their silence skewers everything.”
Read “Diaspora Sonnet at the Feeders Before the Freeze” by Oliver de la Paz
4. Hurricane
From Helene to Milton, it’s been a terrible season for hurricanes on the Gulf Coast. Residents impacted by the devastating storms can still apply for assistance through FEMA. For my part, I followed live updates from a cousin in Tavares as the storm rolled through. He couldn’t evacuate, as his wife was on storm duty as a nurse.
So what does one do while waiting out a hurricane at home? Poet Kevin Young would like to take the opportunity for some intimate connection. The final couplet of his poem, “Hurricane Song” is absolute perfection.
5. Chicken Recall
Yesterday, my 13-year-old informed me of a frozen waffle recall: he’s always shrewdly aware of food recalls as they come up (thanks, TikTok). He didn’t mention a chicken recall that apparently happened earlier this month, but I guess we don’t buy very much chicken in our house— we’re a nuggets only family.
If I were to eat any non-nugget chicken, I’d love to follow the recipe included in Sarah Gambito’s poem, “On How to Use this Book.” Gambito instructs the reader to invite at least 15 people to share in this meal, so I’ll have to wait for my Covid to pass. For now, I’ll live vicariously through poetry, as usual.
You might think that a chicken recall cannot be poetic: think again.
In November, I hope to find wellness. We’ll see what else happens.
Written by Allisonn Church
Writer Bio: Allisonn Church was born in a small rural community to a mother who pinned butterflies in glass cases and hid scarab beetles in her jewelry box. Her first favorite poem was “The Willow Fairy”’ by Cicely Mary Barker. Find a list of Allisonn's published work at churchpoems.wordpress.com.