No sun – no moon!
No morn – no noon –
No dawn – no dusk – no proper time of day –
No sky – no earthly view
(November – Thomas Hood)
November walks in muddy boots
an aging man in a cape
in his wake a reek of soggy wool,
we try in vain to keep him out
with candles to dismiss his gloom,
but depression drizzles,
sticks to the skin
leaving us frigid, cold
November is here and we are doomed
No sun – no moon!
November cackles, and his crows
like rotten berries of death
drape themselves from the barren boughs;
as shadows raised from the mud
the trees are waiting, wailing
and resting, maybe dying soon
while veiled in mist
we wait, decaying to clay.
November, we cannot be attuned
No morn – no noon –
November, a burden, a beast
both a pockmarked beggar
and a prosperous miser
bad adviser but an imperious chief
and both the poor and the rich
he embezzles his prey
we stare at the sky, the moon
is not there
November, please leave us betrayed
No dawn – no dusk – no proper time of day –
November, my foe, barbarous bane
you carry a scythe though harvest is home
you bring with your breath
existence, extinction,
a knell for disruption of living
for the silence of songs that we knew.
the falling, the fall
into dolor, into darkness
November my slayer, I dread you;
No sky – no earthly view
November by Jacek Yerka
Today Sarah hosts at dVerse and inspires with the poem November by Thomas Hood. I am no fan of November. I thought a Glosa would be fitting realizing that it was quite a while since I last wrote one of those. I deviated in the form mainly by disregarding that the lines should be of similar length.
November 15, 2022
Björn Rudbergs writings 
What bravery to take on a Gloss for this prompt. A splendid poem.
Thank you… the poem was truly inspiring to gloss with.
Very nice use of the form for this prompt, Bjorn. I could have guessed you weren’t a fan of November! The original poem does give you some good lines for the Glosa, and you really use them brilliantly.
Thanks a lot… it actually wrote itself this time
I’m with Marilyn, Björn – brave to take on a glosa and then write a wonderful personification of November with a flourish! November in muddy boots reeking of soggy wool – that’s perfect. I especially enjoyed the alliteration in the lines:
‘but depression drizzles,
sticks to the skin’
and
‘November cackles, and his crows
like rotten berries of death
drape themselves from the barren boughs’.
I enjoyed writing this from the perspective of November.
Bjorn, you took the poem’s lines and constructed such a powerful season of woe here. I love how you anthropomorphized the month. I can see him there. The whole poem is magnificent but I really like that 2nd stanza with the crows draped in the boughs, and the soddenness has turned the dust to clay.
Thank you so much… it was heartfelt to write.
❤ Do you have any vaca time left to fly to a warm, sunny place? I really hope I can swing it this winter.
Nope… all vacation burned in our 10 weeks of summer walk…
p.s. your musical selection is just right for it
Very well done, Bjorn! Your images are wonderful!
Thank you… it was inspiring to write
I love that song SO much.
“he embezzles his prey”
“November, please leave us betrayed”
the last stanza
(my favorites)
Excellent work.
That opening personification had me smiling and happy, and then it got darker, and darker, and . . . then Guns and Roses. I love how you used the prompt poem as a structure. An impressive write.
luv your personification of dread November.
Its not like this in my clime, though.
much💛love
Great imagery Bjorn! ❣️
November’s deathly oppression described with such acuteness that I think the night went a shade darker here, Björn. From first to last, the personification is absolutely masterful.
The photo, poem and music selection a trifecta of November pain. I am not familiar with the form. You made me feel November.
Your expansions of the original text are vivid and exactly right. No proper time of day at all. (K)
Excellent personification.