October Or Halloween Double Challenge

In this weeks challenge poets were given 2 different themes with 2 different word list to use for each challenge.

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Poets could use as many words in the body of  their poem as they wanted to

from the lists given for each theme.

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THIS WEEKS THEMES AND WORD LIST WERE …..

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CHALLENGE #1

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THEME IS “OCTOBER”

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WORDS TO USE …….

October, frost, harvest,colored leaves, fall, walks, apples, full moon, scarecrow, pumpkins, crisp air, frost,  red, yellow, orange, raking, blanket,  hay ride

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CHALLENGE # 2

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THEME IS ” HALLOWEEN”

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WORDS TO USE……

carve pumpkins, October, jack-o-lanterns, haunted house,  bats, witch, ghosts, moon light, trick or treat,

candy, spooky, black cat, broom stick, tomb stone,

costumes, shadows, spider webs

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Challenge # 1

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October
~
When you are a city girl
You only hear about the country life
We do have the beauty of colored leaves
Dropping from the trees
Red, yellow, and orange
Piling up around the trees
And bringing fall to the parks
And of course
Halloween comes
For city kids as well as country kids
And up come the scarecrow
And the pumpkins
Carved into Jack-o-lanterns
But for this family
The best thing about October
Is our precious Laura
As the fall arrived
And the full moon smiled
Harvest happened in the country
The raking of leaves
Went on in the park
And all over the country
People were getting out blankets
In El Paso, Texas
Laura made her entrance
And filled our hearts
And waiting arms
Blessed October!
~
Martha ©

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When October Comes To Call
.
The cold winds
Begin to come
When the harvest
Is being done

.
There is frost at night
And the colored
Leaves begin to fall
.
Take a walk with me
During the day
Perhaps the sun is warm
And the leaves are dry
It’s not raining
And they crunch
Beneath your feet
.
The apples are
Ready for picking
They have a lovely crunch
Go ahead and pick a bunch
Maybe I’ll have one for lunch
.
The air is crisp as
The leaves turn red, yellow and orange
I’d like to start a fire
To burn them after raking
But may I jump in them first
.
The moon is full
It’s called a harvest one
It’s bright red
So they say
I think I might have seen it
A time or two
In the country
So hardy
.
All things that one thinks of
When October comes to call
.
Susan ©

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October
.

October is here and

Drawing to a close

So very soon
Bringing frost

Seeing breath
In front of a full moon
.
Changes in time

Cold requiring facial hair

No shaving
Add a blanket or two

Set the clock
For daylight savings
.
October with the first

Of three holidays
Halloween
Thanksgiving and Christmas
The holiest of all between
.
After much fun in the sun
Comes the seasonal crisp air
Now huddling in front of the fireplace
Showing you care
.
October is loved by so many
And not just for Oktoberfest
Starting with beer forwarding
Family sharing and cheer
So many think best
.
Dave ©
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October Changes
~
Friends are posting away
Advertising the change in seasons
The trees with the fall, colored leaves
The red, yellow, and orange brilliance
Only countered for beauty
With the cherry blossoms.
~
I enjoy breathing our desert crisp air and
Seeing the frost on the windshields in the morning…
They help me to recall the hay rides
With a large horsehair blanket
With my girl snuggling up close
As the October full moon
Beams down on the pumpkin patch
Where we will soon harvest our special offering
To the scarecrow god.
~
For this god is indeed angry and vengeful
As he is called to stand in during a season
Full of California blandness with
A teasing hint of something to come.
~
We go for long walks to fetch
Apples from farmer Henry’s orchard
To place an apple in each of the scarecrow’s hands
Greatly limiting his vengeful abilities
Until the apples spoil
Always on all Hallows’ Eve
Where the scarecrow’s antics
Will only blend in.
~
Robert Lanphar ©

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Things Of Fall
~
Warm sunny days
The crisp air at night
The colored leaves
A breath taking sight

~
Pumpkins displayed
The scarecrow still in the field
Watching the work
As the harvest is yield

~
Soon the frost comes
Urging the leaves to fall
Under the blue of October’s sky

Leaves answer the call

~
They fall and they fall

But later we’ smile

As we  wait jump from

Raking leaves into piles

~
Later the full moon
Fills the night sky
Lovers on walks
Smile and sigh

~

So many things are
The beauty of fall
So many things
I love them all
~
Stella ©
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Challenge # 2

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Halloween
.

Black cats walking everywhere
Around the place
Carved pumpkins in to jack-o-lantern

To sit in the windows

To frighten everyone that walks
Past the haunted house

.
Witches cackle as
Ghosts fly around
The haunted house

.
Zombies come emerging
From the grave
With black cats sitting

On the tombstones
Meowing and hissing
Their fur all stuck up

.
Bats flying over head

In the moonlight
Forming spooky shadows
On the ground

Scaring the trick or treaters
Making them drop
Their candy on the ground

.
The witches take flight
On their broom sticks
Looking at the children

In their  Halloween costumes

As they go door to door
And get caught in spider webs
Ten times their size

.
When they get to

The old mansion

The witches live in
They can’t help but
Enjoy themselves

On Halloween night

.
When everyone is scared
By different things in town
And by other people in costumes
For they enjoy the holiday very much 
It  is their favorite time of the year
They wished it was October 31st
All the time
So they could have their fun
Year round

Not just once a year

.
Happy Halloween
.

Jet ©

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Halloween Is Nearly Here
.
It’s nearly here
I remember the excitement
When I was little
What would the weather be
.
“Dad when will you carve the pumpkin”
What will I be
A witch
A ghost
Are they around
I don’t like them
Are they spooky
.
Trick or Treat
Was so sweet
How much candy
Would we get
Would a black cat
Cross our path
They don’t scare me
One little bit
.
The costumes even now
What to wear
If you give out the candy
In your home
Do you decorate
With a witches broom
Or just a broom stick
For special affects
.
The scarecrows are
Another nice touch
But please don’t make
Them too scary
I’m a soft heart
And don’t like them too gross
.
So if you please
Keep the spider webs neutral
Okay, they can glow in the dark
Maybe that will make
It seems less stark
.
Halloween is upon us
.
Susan ©

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It Is That Night
~
It is that night in October
When scary things are seen
Yes it is that night
It is Halloween
~
Maybe the moon light
Will make the night less dreary
And the haunted house less scary
~
Time too for costumes
Cute and dandy
“Trick or treat”
We want some candy
~
I see a broom stick
By a door
A witch is there
I am sure
~
Jack-O-Lanterns here and there
Like a spooky dream
Do I see a tombstone
Oh my run and scream
~
A black cat sets
Beneath spider webs
Dark shadows every where
Fill me with dread
~
Soon Halloween is over
And I say good night
Head off to bed
And turn off the light
~

Stella ©

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The Lanphar Haunted House
~
When we were active in Scouting
We would always run a walk-through haunted House
Besides the October moonlight on the tombstones
Participants would be greeted at the front door
With carved pumpkins springing to life as Jack-O-Lanterns,
Bats hanging from the belfry shook by a Scout in the shadows
The witch (Anne) in the family room stirred a large caldron
Of a bubbling love concoction where a purple candy apple
Was offered with a bony hand and always refused.
Then the participants were escorted
Down the stairs into the garage
As ghosts bounced about,
Spooky black curtains with spiders shook,
A black cat offered a menacing, screaming meow,
Finally there was my son strapped in a chair as the doctor (Me)
Administered the meat cleaver strike on his hand
To a strobing black light crescendo
Bringing to life various painted items on the walls
Including spider webs, broomsticks dancing, and
Various costumes appropriate for our dungeon scene.
A final escort directed the participants out of the garage
Where they were offered a helping hand,
The severed hand.
We had wonderful trick or treat candy which was always
Quickly passed by as a quick escape
Was the desired course of action.
~
The best comments came from four frightened teen girls:
“You guys are f—ing crazy.”
~
Robert Lanphar ©