Even if something is left undone, everyone must take time to sit still and watch the leaves turn.

 My girl Pearleen:

"A year of beauty. A year of plenty.

A year of planting. A year of harvest.

A year of forests. A year of healing.

A year of vision. A year of passion.

A year of rebirth.

This year may we renew the earth.

This year may we renew the earth.

Let it begin with each step we take.

And let it begin with each change we make.

And let it begin with each chain we break.

And let it begin every time we awake.

 (Reclaiming Samhain)

"Across the land a faint blue veil of mist

Seems hung; the woods wear yet arrayment sober

Till frost shall make them flame; silent and whist

The drooping cherry orchards of October

Like mournful pennons hang their shriveling leaves

Russet and orange: all things now decay;

Long since ye garnered in your autumn sheaves,

And sad the robins pipe at set of day."

-  Siegfried Sassons, October

This month, this season

we will gather under the apple tree

as Autumn dawns upon the earth

to pray under the apple tree

so dear to Pomona's heart.

Dear and wise Pomona, we invoke thee

in the sacred month of your apple tree

to bring forth your fertility.

Fill our minds with creativity,

our hearts with love and compassion

as you bless your dear apple tree

with her harvest's sweet fruition.

She profusely blooms white in Spring,

attracting many friendly bees

which pollinate her flower.

With your divine grace and joy,

you reward them with your nectar.

Let it be to you as nectar

this prayer to you that we offer

in praise and supplication

with our purest love and great affection.

You shall clothe her leaves in colors

as the Autumn nights get cooler.

This apple tree we gather under

will display your loving nature:

red, orange, gold

and mixtures thereof.

With reverence and with love

we honor you, our Lady Pomona

this apple tree month...

and adoringly forever."

 On the first page of my dreambook

It's always evening

In an occupied country.

Hour before the curfew.

A small provincial city.

The houses all dark.

The store-fronts gutted.

I am on a street corner

Where I shouldn't be.

Alone and coatless

I have gone out to look

For a black dog who answers to my whistle.

I have a kind of halloween mask

Which I am afraid to put on."

-   Charles Simic, Empire of Dreams