Pumpkins

For those of you who follow my blog, you may recall my post of September 30th when I was forced to hastily harvest my garden because of an impending snow storm.  You may also recall how upset I was at having to bring in all of my pumpkins while they were still green.  I put them in the kitchen window and hoped for the best.  Well...that seemed to be just the thing for them, because they all turned a beautiful shade of deep orange.  I belong to an on-line poetry writing community, and every Sunday we write and share "flash poetry" in response to a prompt provided by that week's moderator.  A flash poem is one that must be completed in 1 hour or less.  The Sunday before last, the prompt was to describe an image in our favorite room of the house.  I immediately knew I wanted to write an ode to my orange pumpkins, and I thought I would share it with you.  Enjoy!

"A Fellowship of Fall"

A fellowship of fall...

My 30 pumpkins

Picked before their time

One drear October afternoon

As an early snow was falling.

Now they sit, autumn orange,

Huddled in the thin sunlight

That shines through the kitchen window.

Slouched crookedly

To the left and right,

Trailing dry vines,

Twisted tendrils,

Withered leaves.

A fellowship of fall...

Small, round;

Tall, slender;

Elegantly elongated;

Squat & proudly pregnant...

Picked before their time,

And brought inside

To fill my fall

With their exquisite orangeness.