October Country, Jennifer
October Country:
The Photograph

Pumpkins, no less than oranges,
Hold the rain of spring,
The sunshine of summer
In their flesh.

Entwined, the vines
Tangle, the dirt
Presses into the rind.

The overcast sky
Reminds that winter
Will arrive, yes,
“The frost is on the pumpkin,”
Not today, but soon.

In the October country
Of middle age
It dawns on us that we, too,
Are ripening toward a harvest.


Lola Lucas