Below is a poem commemorating the colours of autumn. At the Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind, we had to memorize the poem to strengthen our knowledge and skills in the English language. All these years later the poem remains a memory.
My identical twin brother, Alex, and I are unable to this day understand all the words or intentions of this particular poem. The plants are alien to Virginia and the ideals expressed are unfamiliar. Unfortunately, others in our class at the residential school felt similar. Despite this incomprehension, our teacher was otherwise exceptional and one of my favourites.
October’s Bright Blue Weather
by Helen Hunt Jackson
O suns and skies and clouds of June,
and flowers of June together,
Ye cannot rival for one hour
October’s bright blue weather.
When loud the bumblebee makes haste,
Belated, thriftless, vagrant,
And goldenrod is dying fast,
And lanes with grapes are fragrant;
When gentians roll their fringes tight
To save them for the morning,
And chestnuts fall from satin burrs
Without a sound of warning;
When on the ground red apples lie
In piles like jewels shining,
And redder still on old stone walls
Are leaves of woodbine twining;
When all the lovely wayside things
Their white-winged seeds are sowing,
And in the fields still green and fair,
Late aftermaths are growing;
When springs run low, and on the brooks,
In idle golden freighting,
Bright leaves sink noiseless in the hush
Of woods, for winter waiting;
When camrades seek sweet country haunts,
By twos and threes together,
And count like misers, hour by hour,
October’s bright blue weather.
O suns and skies and flowers of June,
Count all your boasts together,
Love loveth best of all the year
October’s bright blue weather.
I can – with all honesty – not recall another poem in praise of the month of October!
Naked hugs!
Roger Poladopoulos/ReNude Pride: Guys Without Boxers!
Author’s Note: The next post entry here is planned for Monday, October 5, 2026, and the proposed topic is: “Our Comfort!”
Rushing to return to GLBTQ+ History Month!
