If you're ready now

I know a place
Ah, ain't nobody cryin'
Ain't nobody worried
Ain't no smiling faces
Lying to the races
~Alvertis Isbell

For Music Monday, I'll Take You There by The Staple Singers, which was ranked #276 on the Rolling Stone list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.



The first version I heard, which does feature Mavis Staples, was by BeBe and CeCe Winans:

Trying

We are trying to construct a more inclusive society. We are going to make a country in which no one is left out.
~Franklin D. Roosevelt

Would you like to send a poem and a gift to a poetry friend by mid-December (or just send a poem) (or just receive a poem or poem and a gift)? We have multiple options for the Holiday Poem Swap 2024! How quickly can you sign up? Registration will be ending Sunday November 3rd! Email me (tabatha at tabathayeatts dot com).

logo by Elena

I've been trying to remain calm while continually praying that our country does not choose misogyny, white supremacy, and fascism. I wish I could feel confident that it was out of the question. What are American values? We're about to find out.

While I go fix myself a soothing cup of tea, here's a warmhearted poem by Sheree Fitch:

Do Your Best Under the Circumstances
Sheree Fitch

There is no land of perfect, child.
There is no sea of ease.
There is no candy apple trail.
There’s broccoli and peas.

There is no suit of armour, child.
There’s arrows and there’s pain.
But when your heart is broken, child...

read the rest here

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Reverie has the Poetry Friday round-up. Thanks, Patricia!

Nut-crack night

On November first was Samhain ("summer's end").
~Ruth Edna Kelley

A nutty picture for Art Thursday. What does Halloween have to do with nuts? If you're trying to choose between suitors, apparently Halloween Night is the time to find out who's best. All you need are nuts and a fire. (Details below!)

Still Life with Mice
by Lodewik Susi

A bit of Halloween lore from The Book of Hallowe'en by Ruth Edna Kelley, A. M., originally published in 1919.

In the north of England Hallowe'en was called "nut-crack" and "snap-apple night." It was celebrated by "young people and sweethearts."

A variation of the nut test is, naming two for two lovers before they are put before[Pg 91] the fire to roast. The unfaithful lover's nut cracks and jumps away, the loyal burns with a steady ardent flame to ashes. "Two hazel-nuts I threw into the flame, And to each nut I gave a sweetheart's name. This with the loudest bounce me sore amaz'd, That in a flame of brightest color blaz'd; As blaz'd the nut, so may thy passion grow, For 't was thy nut that did so brightly glow."

Gay: The Spell.

If they jump toward each other, they will be rivals. If one of the nuts has been named for the girl and burns quietly with a lover's nut, they will live happily together. If they are restless, there is trouble ahead.

"These glowing nuts are emblems true Of what in human life we view; The ill-matched couple fret and fume, And thus in strife themselves consume, Or from each other wildly start And with a noise forever part. But see the happy, happy pair Of genuine love and truth sincere; With mutual fondness, while they burn[Pg 92] Still to each other kindly turn: And as the vital sparks decay, Together gently sink away. Till, life's fierce ordeal being past, Their mingled ashes rest at last."

Graydon: On Nuts Burning, Allhallows Eve.

'Cause it felt so good

Just stop and realize just what is true. What else can you do?
Just follow the rules and keep your eyes on the road that's ahead of you.
~Little Feat

For Music Monday, Little Feat. Did I listen to this album a million times when it came out? Why, yes.



Also, Let It Roll
Halloween music

The right conditions

Maples are such sociable trees ... They're always rustling and whispering to you.
~Lucy Maud Montgomery

Happy Poetry Friday! When I was looking for quotes, I also found this delightful one:
I remember it as October days are always remembered, cloudless, maple-flavored, the air gold and so clean it quivers.
~Leif Enger

It's been very gold today. *happy sigh* I am a fan of October. We have two tree-related poems this week.

letter to my father
by Sara Eddy

I’ve been walking around with a knot
in my belly all week for no reason.
There’s nothing wrong, no big turmoil.

But I feel everything, a web of open nerves
zapping to the tune of every little thing.
We finally had winter this week, after many...

read the rest here

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Whenever you see a tree
By Padma Venkatraman
Think
how many long years
this tree waited as a seed
for an animal or bird or wind or rain
to maybe carry it to maybe the right spot
where again it waited months for seasons to change

read the rest here

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Beyond Literacy Link has the Poetry Friday round-up. Thanks, Carol!

Molten

"A singer can shatter glass with the proper high note, he said," "but the simplest way to break glass is simply to drop it on the floor.'"
~Anne Rice

For Art Thursday, Glass Blowers of Murano by Charles Frederic Ulrich. Have you watched the tv series that's a glass blowing competition (I can't remember the name! Arg)? It impressed upon me how dangerous glass blowing can be, although this painting looks very relaxed.

Glass Blowers of Murano
by Charles Frederic Ulrich

Photogravure (by Goupil & Co.) based on the 1886 painting by American artist Charles Frederic Ulrich

Orange-colored day

You’re a part of the season, no more and no less
~Liana Flores

For Music Monday, a song Ariana introduced me to during my visit. Liana Flores: