This is for Angie’s prompt over at Real Toads. She found a wonderful book with suggestions for and lists of words for inspiration: Sandford Lyne titled, “Writing Poetry from the Inside Out: Finding Your Voice Through the Craft of Poetry.” It seems a most excellent book I shall check out this afternoon. Come visit us at Real Toads: http://withrealtoads.blogspot.com/2017/11/get-listed-november-edition.html She gives us several lists with four words in each. I chose the list with November, layer, stones, throat to write a poem of 100 words or less. I am also posting this today at dVerse Poets Pub for their Open Link Night. I am also posting at Poets United Poetry Pantry.
Dreaming November
rust-colored November
settles into the stones
in layers of newly fallen leaves
old leaves rotting leaves –
a smell that catches in the back of my throat
and makes me want to put down roots.
November is the calm before the winter storms –
stones sleep
beneath the leaves
beside the creek
flowing clear over rounded stones
before settling into the
pool at the end –
sleeping leaves dreaming of summer.
copyright Kanzen Sakura
kanzen sakura 
Nov 02, 2017 @ 14:18:44
oh, this is so golden. i love how you typified November in leftover summer leaves and quiet stones. Thanks so much for participating in the Get Listed prompt and glad it worked well for dVerse too! We can hop over there as well
Nov 02, 2017 @ 14:21:20
Thank you. Please do hop over….Hop! Hop! Hop!
Nov 02, 2017 @ 14:28:30
So beautiful. .I wish I’d written this😊
I love “November is the calm before the winter storms –”
Nov 02, 2017 @ 14:29:41
Oh my! Thank you so very much Vivian…
Nov 02, 2017 @ 14:57:53
😊
Nov 02, 2017 @ 14:37:13
So beautiful description of November. The winters are coming and we all are waiting for it eagerly at least in India.
Nov 02, 2017 @ 14:44:42
The smell of leaves… yes, that is very arresting. Seems to have just showed up here yesterday!
Nov 02, 2017 @ 14:54:41
Here too as well!
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Nov 02, 2017 @ 14:48:49
This is absolutely exquisite!💞Especially love the image of “stones sleep beneath the leaves beside the creek flowing clear over rounded stones before settling into the pool at the end.” Beautifully penned.💞
Nov 02, 2017 @ 15:02:57
Thank you Sanaa
Nov 02, 2017 @ 15:09:58
I love your November, so much better than mine… the scents involved is just great.
Nov 02, 2017 @ 15:13:19
Thank you Bjorn.
Nov 02, 2017 @ 15:25:42
Gorgeous and slow-paced, your November has the colour and the scents I enjoy, Toni, and lots of stones. I have a thing about stones and pebbles; an ex-student who is an excellent artist, painted a stone for me with a portrait of Mojo the cat.
Nov 02, 2017 @ 15:26:54
What a wonderful gift! I too love stones…I have a small basket with stones I have picked up from various places. It is fun to sit and pick through them at times.
Nov 02, 2017 @ 15:30:56
My husband still has a smooth, round stone that he keeps in the car – one that we used to roll on the beach for a Jack Russell when he was alive, over seven years ago!
Nov 02, 2017 @ 15:33:09
I love that. I keep a couple of small stones a long-gone kitten used to lift and toss in her play.
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Nov 02, 2017 @ 15:28:03
I liked the idea of the leaves dreaming of summer at the end.
Nov 02, 2017 @ 15:30:03
Your poetics often have the touch of Asian gentleness, plus penetrating insights. Your November piece is my favorite so far; your last line is killer.
Nov 02, 2017 @ 16:24:17
I like this, especially the “sleeping leaves dreaming of summer.”
Nov 02, 2017 @ 16:27:51
Lovely golden words Toni and those lovely scents!
I too am dreaming of summer…
Anna :o]
Nov 02, 2017 @ 16:39:06
love how you repeated leaves to conjure the layers that lie around now – and the last line is a real humdinger – superlative!
Nov 02, 2017 @ 16:40:25
Oh this, indeed, is November. A beautiful write as always…the last line is especially stunning!
Nov 02, 2017 @ 17:06:40
“Rust-coloured November” love that.
Nov 02, 2017 @ 17:39:11
You’ve captured November beautifully. “…a smell that catches in the back of my throat / and makes me want to put down roots…”. Yes, November reminds you that you’ll need a home for winter. Wonderful!
Nov 02, 2017 @ 18:11:48
The calm before the winter storms….but I am dreaming of summer already ~ Lovely share Toni ~
Nov 02, 2017 @ 18:45:29
Lovely cadence, so rich in imagery, and such clever use of the prompt words! Bravo!
Nov 02, 2017 @ 19:26:42
Love the sleeping stones Toni. Am hosting micropoetry month on my blog all November! Join in if you can with your poems. 🙂
Nov 02, 2017 @ 21:49:53
Thank you Rajani for the lovely comment and the invite. I may. I’ve been grieving my mother deeply and am staying close to home (dVerse). I see the prompt and poems for it. I love short forms.
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Nov 02, 2017 @ 21:56:38
Wish you much strength and love Toni. Take care and find your own pace back to writing.
Nov 02, 2017 @ 21:12:58
“Sleeping leaves dreaming of summer” a beautiful description of November.
Nov 02, 2017 @ 22:31:47
Like other comments – this is a rich evocation – I liked the playful fall of the lines – ‘stones sleep / beneath the leaves / beside the creek / flowing clear over rounded stones/ before settling…’ – even though the imagery was subdued, the creek is still there tinkling away.
Nov 02, 2017 @ 22:35:50
Yeppers. That creek does tinkle along ☺ thank you for your comments!
Nov 03, 2017 @ 00:02:20
This is my favorite:
“a smell that catches in the back of my throat
and makes me want to put down roots”
Nov 03, 2017 @ 04:04:05
This is so beautiful! Your poem made me fall in love with November 🙂
Nov 03, 2017 @ 10:59:48
So beautiful and dreamy Toni, I especially love ‘sleeping leaves dreaming of summer’ and your photograph is gorgeous too :o) xxx
Nov 03, 2017 @ 11:42:02
I wish I had written this too. The smell makimg you want to put down roots.. beautiful. Also, you habe expressed the journey of the leaves through various seasons! Love love it
Nov 03, 2017 @ 11:43:45
Thank you. November is an odd month. I think that is why I was born in it.
Nov 03, 2017 @ 12:40:09
Me too! November buddddiiieesss!
Nov 03, 2017 @ 12:48:45
??
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Nov 03, 2017 @ 13:11:41
I suppose the leaves do dream of summer….
Nov 03, 2017 @ 13:17:51
I know they do. Sometimes I see them fluttering in their nightmares. (I truly dislike the heat of summer!)
Nov 03, 2017 @ 19:20:53
You describe what it’s like here, right now, with such beauty and grace. We are awaiting our first big winter storm–the weather channel has been sending us alerts for this weekend all week. Right now sun is playing with the clouds, the yard that was raked yesterday is full of leaves again today, and I’ve almost finished all that needs to be done to keep the gardens happy through the cold months. Maybe now, a chance to poem.
Nov 04, 2017 @ 14:00:54
Bless your heart. Do you have anyone to help you? Who’s doing the cooking. Today is a perfect day to poem…cold, dreary, and damp.
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Nov 04, 2017 @ 05:25:57
kaykuala
sleeping leaves dreaming of summer.
Some may want to look far ahead to even try to forget the cold months in between!
Hank
Nov 04, 2017 @ 13:59:12
Not me! I love the cold winter days. But leaves? They’re the dreamers.
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Nov 04, 2017 @ 11:26:04
I like the way you guided us through the description and ended with dreams of summer. It is very neatly done.
Nov 04, 2017 @ 13:58:17
Thank you.
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Nov 04, 2017 @ 19:37:31
I like thinking of November as the slumbering calm before the chill of winter storms. You create a beautiful vibe here. I’m reaching for blanket and soup now!
Nov 04, 2017 @ 19:55:47
Thank you Barry. I had my first hot spiced cider last night!
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Nov 05, 2017 @ 14:34:01
You paint a lovely picture here, thanks for sharing it with us.
Nov 05, 2017 @ 14:56:46
Toni, this is a very beautiful poem. I especially love the sleeping leaves dreaming of summer. Apparently, those piles of leaves are gestation beds for butterflies and other small creatures…….I read that you are grieving your mother. Losing one’s mother is a defining moment in our lives. Rest and heal, my friend. Grieving is hard work.
Nov 05, 2017 @ 15:07:00
Yes. I told a friend about baby bees gestating in hollow stems and such. She is right on top of it now! My poor mother suffered so much her last month of life. Thank you for your kind words.
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Nov 05, 2017 @ 18:14:42
What a perfect description of November….
‘old leaves rotting leaves –
a smell that catches in the back of my throat
and makes me want to put down roots.
November is the calm before the winter storms –’
Exactly how I feel as I walk outside in November.
Nov 05, 2017 @ 18:41:50
I am so glad you liked this. I love November.
Nov 05, 2017 @ 18:50:43
Beautifully written, Toni. Yes, November is the calm before the storm. It is a grey, grey month here….but at least it is ‘calm’ and snow free. Sad to see all those fallen leaves though.
Nov 05, 2017 @ 18:57:16
Yes it is always sad to see the fallen leaves but I find a somber beauty in bare limbs
Nov 06, 2017 @ 05:05:50
Such an inspiring write..I loved every crisp leaf
Nov 06, 2017 @ 09:33:56
Thank you Jae!
Nov 06, 2017 @ 05:30:52
I love November’s calm and the leafy dreams of summer. So beautifully penned.
Nov 06, 2017 @ 09:35:06
Thank you Sumana. November is my favorite month.
Nov 06, 2017 @ 19:31:15
This line:
November is the calm before the winter storms
You expressed it so nicely. Great write! Good night..
Dec 20, 2017 @ 17:27:13
Excellent imagery.